Austria’s Chancellor announces holding international conference on Belarus issue in Vienna
On October 22, during the recent summit of the European Council, Austria’s Federal Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced holding an international conference on the Belarusian issue in Vienna.
When asked to comment on the another sanctions package which is to be imposed on the Belarusian regime, Schallenberg said:
“Every person in Belarus responsible for the misuse of migrants as weapon against the EU, should be put under sanctions. However, sanctions cannot be the only thing. We need a minimal dialogue with the civil society. Austria is involved specifically. We have an international conference on 22 November in Vienna together with the cooperation council and the civil society. It is a European issue, Europe does not only go by sanctions.”
He also recalled that the EU member states talked with Iraq to prevent flights from Baghdad to Minsk and stressed they should continue work with transit countries in order to stop migration before it reached EU borders.
According to Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the event will be a dialogue platform dedicated to solving the current crisis in Belarus. However, it has not yet been specified in what format the conference will take place and who will be invited to participate in it.
