EU foreign ministers on Monday failed to agree sanctions over the political crisis in Belarus, despite a plea for support from Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
The former Soviet republic has been convulsed by unprecedented demonstrations and a brutal crackdown by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko since he was returned to power in a disputed Aug. 9 election.
Tikhanovskaya met EU foreign ministers in Brussels and urged them to sanction Lukashenko, but despite repeated warnings to the strongman, after more than six weeks the bloc has still yet to act.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Cyprus, which has good relations with Russia, Lukashenko’s key ally, has blocked EU agreement on measures against Belarus, insisting that sanctions against Turkey over a maritime gas drilling dispute must be agreed at the same time.
“Although there is a clear will to adopt these sanctions, it has not been possible to do that today because the required unanimity was not reached,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell told reporters after hosting the talks.
Cyprus’s position has support from some EU countries, but the patience of others is wearing thin.
“It is regrettable that today we could not decide on sanctions on violations of human rights there due to ‘a hostage taking’ by a member state,” Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkevics wrote on Twitter. “Sends a wrong signal to Belarusians, our societies and the whole world.”
Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Christodoulides defended his country’s stance, insisting the EU must have a coherent response to violations of sovereignty and human rights.
“Our reaction to any kind of violation of our core basic values and principles, cannot be a la carte. It needs to be consistent,” he said.
French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clement Beaune told reporters in Brussels he understood Cypriot concerns about Turkey.
“I think we have to unblock this, untie this bond. We must be able to make progress on the sanctions against Belarus, this does not weaken Europe — on the contrary,” he added.
The matter is now to be considered by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels tomorrow and Friday.
Borrell said he wanted the sanctions signed off before the next meeting of foreign ministers next month, warning that “the credibility” of the EU depended on it.
After meeting the EU ministers, Tikhanovskaya told reporters that sanctions were a key tool to “force the so-called authorities to start dialogue with us.”
“I think leaders have reasons not to push for these sanctions but at this meeting I asked just to be more brave in their decisions,” she said.
The EU and other Western powers have rejected the result of the election, saying the poll was not free and fair, and Brussels has drawn up a list of about 40 members of Lukashenko’s regime to hit with asset freezes and travel bans.
“We must also address the question of whether Mr Lukashenko, who is the main responsible, should not also be sanctioned by the European Union,” German Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas said.
Tikhanovskaya, who fled to Lithuania for her own safety after the election, backed sanctions on Lukashenko himself.
She also urged the EU to make a formal call for new polls — something it has so far held off from.
The EU is also considering what finance could be given to civil society in Belarus, after Poland called for a 1 billion euro (US$1.17 billion) stabilization fund to help the country.
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
‘ABSURD MISTAKE’: The election commission said that there had been a failure to anticipate turnout after 14 polling stations ran short of ballot papers South Korean riot police yesterday cleared protesters from a Seoul polling station after a 35-hour blockade sparked by a shortage of ballot papers during local elections earlier this week. Wednesday’s election was the first nationwide vote since South Korean President Lee Jae-myung took office following the ouster of Yoon Suk-yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration. Lee’s ruling Democratic Party swept most races, but failed to flip the crucial Seoul mayoral seat. The South Korean National Election Commission apologized, blaming a failure to anticipate turnout after 14 polling stations in Seoul ran short of ballot papers. Some polling stations stayed open until 10pm to
France experienced its hottest spring on record, the French weather service said on Tuesday, after an exceptional early heat wave that also broke highs for the season in England and Wales. Meteo-France said the average nationwide temperature over March to May was 13.8°C — about 1.7°C above the norm, and surpassing records set in 2011 and 2020. “The warmest spring since records began in 1900,” it said in a bulletin. All three months were warmer than average, but the onset of an “unprecedented heatwave” late last month pushed the mercury to highs typically seen at the height of the summer. “Our country had never
A Sherpa guide was found crawling to base camp on Mount Everest a week after he went missing and was reunited with his family, who had given up hope he would return. Dawa Sherpa was last seen on Friday last week descending the mountain, but he did not reach base camp even though his client did. The pair were among the last climbers on the mountain as the climbing season came to an end and the route was dismantled. Dawa was located by a cleaning crew on Thursday morning as he was crawling down the snowy slopes around the Khumbu Icefall, just above
RSS