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Belarusian President declared persona non grata by Baltic States

2020-08-31T14:35:04.402Z


Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia on Monday, August 31 blacklisted Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and 29 senior officials of his regime for alleged electoral fraud and repression of pro-democracy protesters. Read also: Belarus: Vladimir Putin ready to launch troops The Baltic states, members of the EU and NATO, have announced their sanctions as part of a coordinated effort to support prot...


Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia on Monday, August 31 blacklisted Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and 29 senior officials of his regime for alleged electoral fraud and repression of pro-democracy protesters.

Read also: Belarus: Vladimir Putin ready to launch troops

The Baltic states, members of the EU and NATO, have announced their sanctions as part of a coordinated effort to support protests in neighboring Belarus, which are entering their fourth week since the disputed presidential election on August 9 . " We are sending a message that we must do more than just publish statements, we must also take concrete measures ," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told AFP.

In addition to President Lukashenko himself, the national blacklists also include 29 officials including the Electoral Commission, ministries and law enforcement. According to Mr Linkevicius, these lists could be extended in the near future. His Estonian counterpart, Urmas Reinsalu, said for his part that the Baltic States " demonstrate that we are tackling human rights violations in Belarus with the utmost seriousness ".

The European Union is also considering entry bans and asset freezes for some 20 Belarusian officials, but this list requires the approval of the 27 EU states. Some Western members of the EU believe that sanctioning Alexander Lukashenko could hamper efforts to establish a dialogue between the authorities and the opposition, and push the Belarusian president into the arms of Russia.

Once occupied by the Soviet Union, the Baltic states are all in the euro area. Latvia and Lithuania have common borders with Belarus. Lithuania, which has taken the lead in European diplomacy over Belarus, is also giving refuge to the leader of the Belarusian opposition Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-08-31

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