Since October last year, the EU has imposed an increasing number of ‘restrictive measures’ against Belarus because of the implausible presidential elections and the violence against demonstrators, politicians and journalists.
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Deliberately lured
From new sanctions announced today relate to the influx of migrants that Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko is said to be deliberately luring in. “It specifically concerns sanctions for people and organizations that participate in this migration pressure,” says political reporter Fons Lambie. “In addition, the EU is in talks with Arab countries, such as Iraq, to stop this flow.”
The punitive measures are ‘urgently needed’ according to outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs Ben Knapen (CDA). “It is the only instrument we have, in addition to consultation with countries in the Middle East,” he said today in Brussels.
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Conversation leads to nothing
According to the outgoing minister, the phoneconversation of EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell with Belarusian foreign minister Vladimir Makej led to nothing yesterday. Knapen: “The fact is that the measures that have now been taken will really hurt Belarus. If you affect a large number of executives and their families in their freedom of movement, it will also become an annoying issue for a larger group of people than is currently the case. is.”
What the EU is also doing is tackling airlines and travel agencies that bring asylum seekers to Belarus. That is already having an effect: Turkish Airlines has announced that it will no longer accept Syrian and Iraqi passengers on one-way flights to the Belarusian capital Minsk.
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More options?
Rob de Wijk, an expert in international relations and security affairs, does not think that the new sanctions will directly lead to changes in the Belarusian regime. “They won’t lose any sleep over it, but you don’t have many other options right now.”
Other options that the EU still has are, according to him, still too heavy. This concerns measures such as closing Belarus’ financial transactions with the West or banning specific Belarusian products. “Those are almost nuclear options, you destroy a lot with them. The EU should not immediately throw all its cards on the table, but take a step every time to see what happens. Otherwise you will have nothing left.”
With tougher European measures, De Wijk fears that Lukashenko will turn to Russia. “The longer you strangle Belarus, the more you drive the country into Putin’s arms. Lukashenko now has a bad relationship with that, because Putin wants to make Belarus part of a Russian Union. But that is also something the West does not want. That would, among other things, result in a much longer border between the EU and Russia.”
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Weakest place EU
But for now, Lukashenko is exploiting the weakest spot in European politics: migration. “A subject on which European countries have not agreed for years,” says political reporter Lambie. “By sending asylum seekers you can put acute pressure on the EU Member States. Belarus is making use of that weak spot, just like Turkey did before. That is cynical, but unfortunately reality.”
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