Although Alexander Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime has suspended Belarus from the European Union (EU) Eastern Partnership, the EU stands ready to develop relations with the people of Belarus, said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Joseph Borrell.
“Despite the Lukashenko regime’s decision to suspend Belarus’s membership of the Eastern Partnership, we are ready to work with the people of Belarus to strengthen ties, foster regional cooperation and meet common challenges,” Borrell said in a tweet.
“The EU is with the people of Belarus, which deserves better treatment than it is currently subject to,” Borel said.
It has already been reported that the Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that the country is suspending membership in the Eastern Partnership. The ministry also said it was launching a procedure to suspend the readmission agreement with the EU. In addition, a representative of Belarus to the EU has been invited to Minsk for consultations, and the Head of the EU Representation in Minsk has also been advised to go to Brussels for consultations.
The ministry explains this by the sanctions imposed on Belarus by the EU. The sanctions bloc imposed in response to repression against opponents of the Lukashenko regime and the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk to apprehend the regime’s critics, Roman Protasevich.
The EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative was launched in 2009, offering six former Soviet bloc countries – Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – closer economic and political ties in exchange for reform.
–
