dpa
Brussels
On the eve of the anniversary of his re-election, widely believed to have been rigged, Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko was threatened by the European Union with additional sanctions.
"The EU stands ready to consider further measures in light of the regime’s blatant disregard of international commitments,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday.
With the "forced and unlawful” landing of a Ryanair flight in May and the instrumentalization of migrants for political purposes, the regime has "further challenged international norms,” Borrell added.
Borrell was alluding, among other things, to the fact that more than 2,000 illegal crossings were registered at the border of EU member Lithuania with Belarus in July alone.
From the EU’s point of view, this is being done deliberately by the government in Minsk. Lukashenko had openly threatened to allow people from countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria to cross the border in response to the EU sanctions.
The EU statement was published on the anniversary of the presidential election in Belarus on August 9 last year. Lukashenko was declared the winner with 80.1 per cent of the votes despite massive accusations of electoral fraud.
Mass protests following the elections were put down with violence.
The EU no longer recognizes him as president and has already imposed sanctions in recent months due to the repression of civil society and the democratic opposition in Belarus.
Most recently, there were also economic sanctions following the arrest of the anti-government blogger Roman Protasevich.
Authorities in Belarus forced a Ryanair passenger plane on its way from Athens to Vilnius in Lithuania to make a stopover in Minsk in order to arrest the Lukashenko critic.
Lukashenko’s opponent Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who claims victory in the August 2020 election, again called for greater pressure on Minsk.
"At the moment, nobody can feel safe, including me,” the 38-year-old, who now lives in exile in Lithuania, told dpa. She mentioned the case of Belarusian activist Vitaly Shishov, who was recently found dead in Ukraine, where he lived in exile.
The situation of Belarusian Olympic athlete Kristina Timanovskaya also showed that anyone could be a victim of Lukashenko’s "repressive apparatus”.
The track and field athlete fled to Poland after she said she was to be kidnapped from the Tokyo Olympics for criticizing Belarusian sports officials.
Brussels
On the eve of the anniversary of his re-election, widely believed to have been rigged, Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko was threatened by the European Union with additional sanctions.
"The EU stands ready to consider further measures in light of the regime’s blatant disregard of international commitments,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday.
With the "forced and unlawful” landing of a Ryanair flight in May and the instrumentalization of migrants for political purposes, the regime has "further challenged international norms,” Borrell added.
Borrell was alluding, among other things, to the fact that more than 2,000 illegal crossings were registered at the border of EU member Lithuania with Belarus in July alone.
From the EU’s point of view, this is being done deliberately by the government in Minsk. Lukashenko had openly threatened to allow people from countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria to cross the border in response to the EU sanctions.
The EU statement was published on the anniversary of the presidential election in Belarus on August 9 last year. Lukashenko was declared the winner with 80.1 per cent of the votes despite massive accusations of electoral fraud.
Mass protests following the elections were put down with violence.
The EU no longer recognizes him as president and has already imposed sanctions in recent months due to the repression of civil society and the democratic opposition in Belarus.
Most recently, there were also economic sanctions following the arrest of the anti-government blogger Roman Protasevich.
Authorities in Belarus forced a Ryanair passenger plane on its way from Athens to Vilnius in Lithuania to make a stopover in Minsk in order to arrest the Lukashenko critic.
Lukashenko’s opponent Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who claims victory in the August 2020 election, again called for greater pressure on Minsk.
"At the moment, nobody can feel safe, including me,” the 38-year-old, who now lives in exile in Lithuania, told dpa. She mentioned the case of Belarusian activist Vitaly Shishov, who was recently found dead in Ukraine, where he lived in exile.
The situation of Belarusian Olympic athlete Kristina Timanovskaya also showed that anyone could be a victim of Lukashenko’s "repressive apparatus”.
The track and field athlete fled to Poland after she said she was to be kidnapped from the Tokyo Olympics for criticizing Belarusian sports officials.