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Belarusian Foreign Ministry in Minsk (2020)
Photo: Natalia Fedosenko / ITAR-TASS / imago images
Last week the European Union significantly extended the list of sanctions against Belarus.
Entry and property bans now apply to a total of 166 people, and ministers are also affected.
It was another response to the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk at the end of May and the arrest of the anti-government blogger Roman Protassevich and his girlfriend.
Now Belarus, for its part, is distancing itself from the EU.
The former Soviet republic said goodbye to the EU program of the so-called Eastern Partnership, as announced by the Foreign Ministry in Minsk. This means that the country will no longer participate in the fight against illegal migration and organized crime, it said. In addition, entry bans were imposed on representatives of "EU structures" and individual member states.
Belarus also withdrew its representative from the EU for consultations and called on the Union to withdraw its representative Dirk Schuebel for the time being.
The German diplomat was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for this purpose.
He was told that pressure from the West on an independent country was unacceptable.
The sanctions threatened national security and harmed the economy and citizens, it said.
Economic penalties are still being worked on at the moment.
Belarus announces implications for the fight against illegal migration
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that the commitments under the partnership program could no longer be fulfilled either. This will also have an impact on the fight against illegal migration. With the Eastern Partnership, established in 2009, the EU wants to stabilize the former Soviet republics politically and economically and to bind them to itself. In addition to Belarus, previous partners are Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Brussels encourages the countries to reform towards a market economy and supports progress in democratization and human rights.
The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko had already threatened to let refugees through en masse in the direction of the EU. Lithuania, with its almost 680 kilometers long border with Belarus - also the EU external border - is currently complaining about a high number of migrants from Syria, Iraq and Iran, for example. According to media reports, the people of Belarus are being directed to the EU in a targeted manner.
Belarus hopes that the EU will recognize the »harmfulness and lack of perspective of the violent approach« and return to dialogue.
The offer of cooperation on equal terms will remain, it said.
After the forced landing of a European passenger plane in Minsk and the arrest of the government critic Protassevich, the EU put far-reaching economic sanctions into force.
This is intended to weaken Lukashenko's power apparatus.
The sanctions are aimed primarily at state-owned companies.
Michel calls decision "another step back"
EU Council President Charles Michel accused the government in Minsk of having "taken another step back".
"This decision will lead to a further escalation of tensions and clearly have a negative impact on the Belarusian people," said the Belgian on Twitter.
fek / dpa / AFP
