During today’s discussing the response to Western sanctions, Alyaksandr Lukashenka stressed the need to introduce restrictions against a number of European companies that sell their products on the Belarusian market.
In his speech, he made a point of German firms.
“We know who in the USA, Germany, and other countries, particularly European ones, spoke against shipping parts and main components to Belarusian enterprises. We know them. We have the experience. Do you remember Skoda, Nivea, and so on? We told them: guys, thanks, see you later. First, we need to stop their sales in Belarus. Second, we need to stop the shipment of their goods via Belarus. The same measures should be applied to Germans. Let them ship their products via Finland to China and Russia. Or via Ukraine (there are good roads over there). May they go and sell their products there,” the press service quotes Lukashenka.
The politician called his associates to make foreigners ‘feel what Belarus is’ so that they would ‘think before using economic weapons’ in the future.
“The government and the National Bank should take a close look at the Western companies doing business in Belarus. Those, who show a responsible attitude and understand us, are free to cooperate with us. But if someone fails to understand us and has started a fight against the Belarusian state, you know how they should be dealt with,” he added.
In 2020, the bilateral volume of Belarus-Germany trade was around 2.6 bn euro. Belarus’ main exports are oil products, machinery, IT services and agricultural products. Over 300 companies with German participation, including 166 joint ventures, are active in Belarus. The German capital is most widely represented in industry, transport, agriculture. Last year, investments worth $ 138.5 million were attracted from Germany, the Belarusian Embassy reports.
On July 2, Lukashenka reported the end of an anti-terrorist operation in Belarus. He said he was going to call Cancellor Angela Merkel for account for that. A day earlier, the authorities demanded that all the activities by the Goethe-Institut and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) be halted in Belarus. In turn, the Federal Foreign Office stated that the German government would continue working to maintain cultural and societal cooperation between our two countries in the future.
A few months ago, four German lawyers contacted the prosecutor’s office located in Karlsruhe on behalf of ten Belarusian survivors of torture, reporting numerous cases of using violence against civilians amid the post-election peaceful protests in Belarus. Their clients lodged complaints of having been put to brutal torture, deprivation of food and sleep, insults and abuse, which inflicted serious damage on the health of all of the victims. In their opinion, the actions by Belarusian authorities were nothing but barbaric acts. As neither Lukashenka nor his law enforcement officers are facing the legal consequences of excessive use of force and torturing detainees in Belarus, the lawyers called on the German authorities to conduct an independent investigation into crimes against humanity committed by the regime. It should be noted that they referred to the universal jurisdiction concept which allows criminal prosecution for crimes prohibited by international law and perpetrated in other states.
In response, Lukashenka slammed the initiative, calling Germans ‘fascism successors’ and ‘descendants of the generations that started the Second World War’.
In early May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the issue of Belarus when taking part in an online meeting with students. She announced further measures that Germany would start offering to Belarusians in humanitarian need, including easier access to visas, scholarships and support to independent media.
