The United States is banging its fist on the table. After the reception of President Alexander Lukashenko by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the midst of an international scandal caused by the interception, on May 23, of a European airliner to arrest a journalist, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said called for “a credible international investigation”. These events are “a direct affront to international standards,” said Jen Psaki. The United States is preparing with the European Union “a list of targeted sanctions against key members of the Lukashenko regime associated with current human rights violations and corruption, the falsification of the 2020 elections and to the events of May 23, “continued the spokesperson.
The US Treasury Department is also working on the development of sanctions against “elements of the Lukashenko regime and its support network”. The United States has also advised its citizens to avoid traveling to Belarus, and “to exercise extreme precautions” in case they consider taking a plane over the country. Washington has confirmed the entry into force, on June 3, of economic sanctions against nine Belarusian state-owned enterprises, reimposed in April following the crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
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“I am very happy to see you”
In a clear demonstration of support for the Belarusian regime, Vladimir Putin received Alexander Lukashenko on Friday in the seaside town of Sochi, by the Black Sea. “I’m very happy to see you,” said Vladimir Putin, all smiles, welcoming him to his summer residence, offering to take a swim in the sea after the meeting. He nodded when Mr. Lukashenko described the crisis as a “fit of emotion” and reminded reporters that the forced landing in Vienna in 2013 of the plane of Bolivian President Evo Morales, suspected of having left Moscow with the launcher on board. American alert Edward Snowden, had raised few protests. “The president had been taken off the plane, and nothing, silence,” Putin said.
“What they want from us is very clear, these Western friends”, said Mr. Lukashenko for his part, considering that it was a question of “destabilizing the situation so that it is as in August” 2020, when a unprecedented protest movement rocked Belarus. The talks in Sochi lasted more than five hours, but nothing was announced. The rerouting of the Ryanair flight resulted in the arrest of a 26-year-old exiled Belarusian opposition journalist on board. For the EU, which immediately asked the airlines to bypass Belarus, the terrorist alert invoked to justify the hijacking by the authorities in Minsk was only a staging.
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A purely “technical” motif
Russia assured this week that it saw “no reason” not to believe Belarusian explanations. The 27 members of the EU were for their part accused Friday of behavior “irresponsible” by the spokeswoman of the Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova. The EU decision was followed by the cancellation of several Air France flights and an Austrian Airlines route to Moscow as Russia failed to validate new flight plans to avoid Belarusian airspace. . The Kremlin assured Friday that the motive was purely “technical”. Alexander Lukashenko believes that Europe wants to “strangle” his country, many of whose senior officials are already targeted by sanctions because of the repression of opponents since the protest movement last year.
The leader of the Belarusian opposition in exile, Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa, for her part on Friday called on the EU to be “more courageous and stronger” and to impose additional sanctions on Belarus. For its part, Brussels has presented a project to support 3 billion euros for a “future democratic Belarus” whose advent, according to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, is only a matter of time. According to Minsk, the plane was diverted because of a bomb threat and the arrest of Roman Protassevich and his companion, Sofia Sapega, was a matter of chance. The suspicions of a staging were however reinforced by two elements.
The company Proton Technologies, which hosts the email address from which the threat was sent, revealed that “the message in question was sent after the plane was hijacked.” The dossier.center website published the photo of an email dated 09:57 GMT, as the pilot of the plane was officially informed of the threat at 09:30 GMT. The Belarusian Investigation Committee assured that it was in fact several warning messages that had been received on Sunday, including one at 09:25 GMT.
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