Belarus-EU economic relations at the mercy of sanctions
Among the countries of the former USSR, only Belarus, led by Alexander Lukashenko, continues to practice the death penalty, after its abolition by Kazakhstan on January 2, 2020. via REUTERS - POOL
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To punish Alexander Lukashenko's regime for the hijacking of the Ryanair plane, the European Union announced on Monday evening economic retaliatory measures such as the freezing of a financial envelope and the closure of its airspace to Belarusian planes.
Relations between Brussels and Minsk are regularly shaken by threats of sanctions.
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French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday in Brussels that the EU "
needs to reframe very deeply
" its relationship with Moscow and that "
the sanctions policy
" had reached its "
limits
", towards Russia as towards Belarus.
This violation of international law called for a condemnation, and the strongest possible reaction ...
Emmanuel Macron
Clea broadhurst
In terms of value and volume, Russia is by far the largest economic and trade partner of Belarus.
The European Union comes in second.
This still leaves him some leeway to go even further in the sanctions against the Lukashenko regime.
Belarus exports mainly refined petroleum products to Europe.
A ban on the purchase of these products would deprive Minsk of a source of foreign currency.
The European Union is also Belarus' second largest supplier, in 2019 European exports amounted to $ 7.3 billion: Belarus mainly imports products from Germany, Poland and Italy.
These are machinery, equipment, transport equipment and pharmaceuticals.
An embargo on all these exchanges would undermine the regime in place, even if it can still count on its big Russian neighbor.
The indignation of European capitals, after the forced stopover of the Ryanair plane on Sunday, was unanimous.
On the first day of their summit, EU heads of state and government quickly agreed Monday evening on a
new set of sanctions against Belarus
.
New train because since 2006, sanctions against the political leaders have been successively taken and then lightened according to the repression of the regime of Viktor Lukashenko against its opponents and the reduction of the latter.
Thus in 2016, the Europeans, counting on a possible political alternation, even lifted the sanctions in force ... before reinstating them.
In November 2020, the European Union launched a
sanctions procedure
against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, his son Viktor and thirteen other officials responsible for the repression carried out in this country.
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See also
:
the EU agrees on sanctions against Alexander Lukashenko
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