4th sanctions package against Lukashenka regime to be rolled out ‘in coming weeks’ – EU HR Borrell
The European Union is pushing another set of sanctions against Belarusian officials over the goal line, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said on Monday.
“In Belarus, the regime continues its repression and intimidation against their own citizens. Now, they are targeting the Polish community. We are working on the next sanctions package, which I hope will be adopted in the coming weeks,” the statement reads.
According to Borrell, those working on the fourth sanctions package are going to take into account ‘everything that is happening in the country, including the way the regime is treating the Polish community.
The top EU diplomat made mention of the feasibility of slapping more restrictions on the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka as far back as February.
Since October, the European Union leaders have imposed three sanctions packages against Belarusian officials involved in the 2020 the vote rigging and post-election violence in the country. In late January, EEAS spokesman Peter Stano warned that if ‘bad developments’ continued in Belarus, the sanction regime might be extended. At the same time, Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makey said in an interview with the Russian media outlet RBC that Belarus had hardly lost all the opportunities to further cooperate with Western partners.
Franak Vyachorka, an international advisor to Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, said in early April that EU member countries submitted their proposals regarding the fourth package of sanctions which might be introduced against the representatives of the Lukashenka regime ‘in the near future’. According to him, the policy makers were expected to consider 197 undesirable individuals along with several dozen entities and define the ‘candidates’ for blacklisting on April 12; he suggested that the rollout of new sanctions might be announced one or two weeks later, but it did not happen.
As reported earlier, as the fourth package of EU sanctions was not in place by the meeting of EU ministers of foreign affairs on May 10, it might be presented during another meeting which is to be held in June.
