EEAS about regime’s response to sanctions: ‘Another step to self-isolate, showing disregard for Belarusians’
The European External Action Service (EEAS) made a comment on the Lukashenka regime’s decision to suspend its participation in the Eastern Partnership framework. It was announced by the Belarusian Foreign Ministry on June, 28.
When reached by Belsat TV on Monday evening, EEAS Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Nabila Massrali said that the EU ‘regretted the decision’, since the EaP aims to ‘deepen and strengthen relations between the EU, its member states and partner countries, with the overall objective of bringing concrete benefits to the citizens of our respective countries’.
“This decision serves only to further isolate Belarus and is yet another demonstration of the regime’s disregard for the Belarusian people, who benefit from the cooperation and various programmes as part of the Eastern Partnership. The EU remains open to continue working with Belarusian people within this framework and will continue to support the Belarusian people and civil society, as well as their democratic aspirations,” the press officer stressed.
According to Massrali, by requesting that the Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus is recalled to Brussels for consultations, the Belarusian authorities have taken another step to self-isolate.
“Keeping channels of communication open is crucial in times of crisis. This has always been our intention,” she added.
As reported earlier, Belarus’ permanent representative in the European Union will be recalled to Minsk for consultations. In turn, EU Delegation Head Dirk Schuebel was asked to go back to Brussels and ‘have consultations with his superiors’ as well. In Monday’s statement, the ministry said that Belarus was also launching the procedure to suspend the readmission agreement with the EU.
On June 24, the European Union imposed targeted sanctions on a number of pillars of the Belarusian economy in order to respond, among other things, to the forced landing of the Ryanair flight in Minsk and the related detention of journalist Raman Pratasevich and his companion Sofiya Sapega. Three days earlier, the EU approved the fourth package of personal sanctions against the Belarusian regime. The bloc froze assets and imposed visa bans on 78 Belarusian officials (including members of Lukashenka’s family) and 8 companies; a total of 166 persons and 15 entities are currently subject to restrictive measures.
