Opposition crackdown in Belarus: EU sanctions (again) Lukashenko regime

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, June 21, 2021, during a meeting with the 27 European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

REUTERS - JOHANNA GERON

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The 27 foreign ministers of the European Union have doubled the number of Belarusians subject to individual sanctions.

They also adopted an economic sanctions panel aimed at weakening President Alexander Lukashenko's regime, a move much faster than expected.

Before their meeting, the 27 ministers invited Svetlana Tikhanovskaya to a working breakfast.

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From our correspondent in Brussels

,

Pierre Bénazet

Individual sanctions against 78 members of the Belarusian regime were expected, but economic sanctions were not supposed to be adopted as of Monday, June 21, even according to the most optimistic.

In the end, the meeting with

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya

and the Belarusian opponents will have added to the conviction of the 27 already extremely recovered since the forced diversion of the flight Athens-Vilnius and the arrest of the opponent Roman Protassevich and his companion.

► 

To read also: Belarus: Roman Protassevich, an arrest which shakes Europe

The European Union's economic sanctions first affect the two main sectors for Belarusian exports, namely potash and hydrocarbons.

On the side of exports to Belarus, the arms embargo will be very widely extended to exclude any surveillance equipment, any sporting or hunting weapon and finally any civilian equipment that can be used by the police.

Third and not the least, the financial sector.

It will be prohibited to sell insurance products, investment services and all types of securities to the central bank and to Belarusian public or semi-public institutions.

Above all, no new bank loan or European funding will be granted to these state entities or those close to the regime.

► See also: Belarus: MEPs call for tougher sanctions

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  • Belarus

  • Alexander Lukashenko

  • European Union

  • Human rights

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