The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, reaffirmed on the evening of Friday 11 September the EU’s determination to impose sanctions on those responsible for the violence, the repression of peaceful demonstrations and the falsification of election results in Belarus.
“The EU is ready to take further restrictive measures as necessary”, he warned in a statement on behalf of the EU, deploring the “increasingly blatant disregard for the Rule of law in the country”. Although Foreign Ministers agreed in mid-August to adopt measures, these are still awaited (see EUROPE 12544/9).
On Friday 11 September, US Assistant Secretary of State Stephen Biegun told journalists, including EUROPE, that his country was working closely with Europeans on sanctions against those responsible for human rights violations and repression.
In his statement, Mr Borrell denounced, in particular the escalation of violence and the forced exile of the members of the Coordination Council, in violation of Belarusian domestic laws and the country’s international obligations. All Presidium members of the Coordination Council have been arrested or forced into exile, with the exception of Nobel Prize winner Sviatlana Alexievich, with whom EU diplomats have intermittently remained with to avoid her arrest. Other opposition figures have been illegally arrested or forced into exile, the High Representative recalled.
Mr Borrell urged the Belarusian authorities to immediately release all those detained illegally, including political prisoners, and to ensure that intimidation, forced exile, arbitrary arrests and violence against civil society and actors engaged in discussions on the future of Belarus, including members of the Coordinating Council, do not continue and are not repeated. A request to which the authorities did not respond, making around 250 arrests during the weekly opposition demonstration on Sunday 13 September.
The High Representative reiterated the need for an inclusive national dialogue with broader society, in particular the Coordination Council, “leading to a peaceful solution and responding positively to demands of the Belarusian people for new democratic elections”. “The harassment of, violence against, and forced exile of members of the Coordination Council and other representatives of civil society runs counter to this objective”, Mr Borrell warned. The “impressive” commitment of the Belarusian people to a democratic future and the persistent call for respect for their fundamental rights deserve a different response, he said.
On Monday 14 September, the UN Human Rights Council decided, at the request of the EU, to hold an urgent debate on Friday 18 on the human rights situation in Belarus. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)