Brussels, 15/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - Meeting at the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday 15 February, the EU's foreign ministers decided to lift sanctions against 170 people - including Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko and three entities in the country. The lifting of these sanctions - visa bans and assets freezes - will be effective from 1 March.
These measures were suspended on 29 October 2015 due to the release of the last political prisoners in August 2015, a presidential election in October that was free of violence, and due to the general state of relations between the EU and Belarus. However, the sanctions against four people linked to the disappearance of two politicians, a businessman and a journalist will be extended by 12 months from 1 March, as will the arms embargo.
Underlining the measures taken by Minsk over the last two years, the Council recognises, in its conclusions, that there is an “an opportunity for EU-Belarus relations to develop on a more positive agenda and that progress in a variety of fields can better be achieved through enhanced channels of communication”.
The Council decided to accelerate the implementation of measures aimed at strengthening cooperation in a number of areas linked to the economy with the aim of modernising Belarus, including with a view to its WTO's membership, and in cooperation with the international financial institutions - in particular the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). It also encourages Minsk to accelerate crucial economic reforms.
However, the ministers warn that “tangible steps taken by Belarus to respect universal fundamental freedoms, rule of law and human rights will remain key for the shaping of the EU's future policy towards Belarus”. Indeed, the ministers continue to be concerned by the human rights situation in Belarus - the last country in Europe still to apply the death penalty. The ministers therefore underline the need to ensure the freedom of association and assembly, and a free and independent press. They call for the civil and political rights of former political prisoners to be restored. Ahead of the parliamentary elections in the autumn, the Council urges the authorities to implement the recommendations swiftly that were made by the OSCE after the presidential election.
Mogherini summarised the EU's commitment to Minsk as a critical policy of engagement - one of the crucial points of which will be a strong engagement with the people. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)