The Council of the EU adopted, on Thursday 2 December, its fifth package of sanctions against the Belarusian regime. Thus, 17 individuals, all Belarusian, are subject to an asset freeze and visa ban, and 11 entities - 9 Belarusian, one Syrian and one Turkish - to an asset freeze. They are sanctioned for facilitating the illegal crossing of the EU’s external borders or for their involvement in human rights violations or the repression of civil society.
The EU Council decided to sanction the Belarusian national airline Belavia, both for supporting the Lukashenko regime and for contributing to activities that facilitate the illegal crossing of the Union’s external borders.
The Belarusian Special Border Guard Unit is sanctioned for the latter, as are six companies: the state tourism company Tsentrkurort, the tour operator LLC Oskartour, the hotels Minsk and Planeta, subsidiaries of the Belarusian President’s Property Management Directorate, the Syrian charter flight operator Cham Wings Airlines and the Turkish passport and visa service VIP Grub.
The state-owned companies Grodno Azot, which produces nitrogen compounds, Belorusneft, operating in the petrochemical sector, and Belshina, a manufacturer of vehicle tyres, are being sanctioned for their responsibility in the repression of civil society.
Seven persons are sanctioned for facilitating illegal border crossings: the Chairman of the State Border Committee and the Head of the Separate Service for Active Measures (ASAM) of the Committee’s special forces, the heads of the Grodno, Brest and Smorgon border guard groups and the heads of the Polotsk and Lida border guard detachments.
Eight individuals are being sanctioned for their responsibility for serious human rights violations and serious breaches of the Rule of law as well as the repression of civil society and democratic opposition. They are five judges, the Senior Prosecutor at the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Deputy Director of the Financial Investigation Department of the State Control Committee and the Director of the Financial Investigations Department of the State Control Committee.
Finally, the head of the Department of Information and Digital Diplomacy (spokesperson) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry is sanctioned for his support of the Belarusian regime, as is the chairman of the board of the state television channel ONT, who conducted the first ‘forced’ interview with journalist Roman Protassevich and is therefore deemed responsible for the repression.
See the decision: https://bit.ly/3pkIUP8
Coordination with the US, UK and Canada
These EU measures were taken in coordination with the US, UK and Canada.
In a joint statement, they warned that “we stand together to impose costs on the regime - and those who support it - for its efforts to silence the voices of independent civil society, the media and all Belarusians who seek to tell the truth about what is happening in their country”. The EU, US, UK and Canada called, among other things, for the immediate and unconditional release of the 900 political prisoners, an end to the campaign of repression and a ‘comprehensive and genuine” political dialogue.
They also reiterated their demand that the Lukashenko regime “immediately and completely end the orchestration” of illegal migration across its borders with the EU. “Those, in Belarus or in third countries, who facilitate illegal crossing of the EU’s external borders should know this comes at a substantial cost”, they warned. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)