On Friday 16 October, European leaders endorsed the measures agreed on Monday 12 October to penalise the Belarusian leadership and support the people of the country (see EUROPE 12579/1), and, in their conclusions, condemned “the continuing violence against peaceful protesters”.
Ahead of the summit, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda denounced “the regime’s efforts to penalise and prosecute the Belarusian people”, while his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, explained that the leaders had reaffirmed their “willingness to engage in inclusive dialogue and a political solution with the opposition”.
In its conclusions, the European Council also emphasised its solidarity with Lithuania and Poland after the Belarusian authorities demanded that both countries reduce the size of their embassies in Minsk (see EUROPE 12574/23). Nausėda thanked his counterparts for their solidarity “in recalling the ambassadors for consultation and using our methods and diplomacy”. “That’s very important and valuable to us”, he added.
In a document dated 9 October that was intended for the Political and Security Committee and was obtained by EUROPE, the Council of the EU Working Party on Eastern Europe and Central Asia explained that the EU’s Member States would not accept the credentials presented by new Belarusian ambassadors in the EU’s capitals and that “embassies that will not be reducing their presence in Belarus, including the EU delegation, would do their utmost to assist Member States that have had to reduce their diplomatic and consular staff”.
It was agreed in the working party that a strong signal should be sent to the Belarusian authorities that the EU expects all ambassadors to return to Minsk after a short period of time without any difficulties.
The European Council conclusions can be found at: https://bit.ly/353aPsK (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with the editorial staff)