What line should the European Union take after the tensions that arose in Belarus in the aftermath of a contested presidential election? In response, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, on Friday called an extraordinary meeting of EU foreign ministers. This meeting will be devoted to the situation in Belarus, as well as to relations with Turkey and the situation in Lebanon.
“I will call an extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council on Friday afternoon. We will discuss urgent issues and address the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, the presidential election in Belarus, as well as the evolution of the situation in Lebanon, ”he said in a message on his twitter account. The meeting will take place by videoconference, said his spokesperson.
An election "neither free nor fair"
The evolution of the situation in Belarus where the regime represses the demonstrations after the contested re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko and the tensions between Greece and Turkey are considered "very serious" by the EU.
I will call an extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council meeting this Friday afternoon.
We will discuss urgent issues and address the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Belarus Presidential elections, as well as developments in Lebanon.
The convening of this meeting was demanded by several member states. The EU on Tuesday denounced the result of the presidential election in Belarus, deemed "neither free nor fair" and warned of possible sanctions against those responsible for the repression.
A videoconference meeting does not allow decisions to be taken, but ministers can give the green light to working groups to start preparing "conclusions" adopted by written procedure, a European source said. "This can speed up the process for the adoption of concrete actions", the same source explained.
A new meeting scheduled for the end of August
EU foreign ministers will meet in person on August 27 and 28 in Berlin to prepare decisions for the summit of heads of state and government scheduled for September 24 and 25 in Brussels.
Belarus remains under an embargo on the sale of arms and material that can be used for repression and four people are still banned from entering the EU, their assets also frozen there. The unanimity of the 27 is necessary for the adoption of new sanctions.
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