French President Emmanuel Macron defended on Tuesday 25 March the decision by EU leaders taken the day before to adopt additional sanctions against the Belarusian regime (see EUROPE 12725/1).
To date, the sanctions adopted by the EU have had no effect on President Lukashenko’s behaviour.
“It’s not clear what other measures would be much more effective. Unless we want to enter into a more direct conflict, sanctions remain the most targeted and effective measures”, explained Mr Macron after the European Council. “Will this be enough? I can’t say that to you today. I think they will have a greater impact than what we’ve been doing so far, because they are stricter”, he added. In his opinion, the new sanctions will be “measures targeted at the economic sectors closest to the government, which will have direct consequences”.
Earlier in the day, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the sanctions. In his opinion, although they will probably not stop President Lukashenko, he will be “pressed to realise what the consequences of his actions are”. “Now all of the EU countries understand much better how we feel being the direct neighbours of this regime. Our capital, Vilnius, is 30 km away”, he added.
Welcoming the European Council’s decisions on sanctions, the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, has called for a symbolic gesture for Roman Protasevich, the journalist who was arrested. He wanted a picture of “Roman” to be displayed in the major airports of EU Member States “as a sign of solidarity and to show that we have not forgotten him”.
Looking beyond the EU, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the human rights office of the United Nations have called for the immediate release of the journalist and his fiancée, Sofia Sapega. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with editorial staff)