The UK, USA, EU and Canada announced new sanctions against Minsk

The UK, USA, EU and Canada issued a statement on today’s coordinated sanctions in response to continuing attacks on human rights and fundamental freedoms in Belarus.

“Today, in response to the continuing attacks on human rights and fundamental freedoms in Belarus, disregard for international norms and repeated acts of repression, we have again taken coordinated sanctions action against certain individuals and entities”, the document available on the website of the UK government reads.

These countries, in particular, demanded that Minsk immediately and completely stop organizing illegal migration to the EU. The authors of the statement warned that the persons engaged in this process in Belarus and other countries “should know this comes at a substantial cost”.

The joint statement also contains a call for the regime “to unconditionally and without delay release its almost 900 political prisoners, end its campaign of repression, and implement the recommendations of the independent expert mission under the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Moscow Mechanism and take meaningful action to address the concerns raised under the OSCE Vienna Mechanism. The regime should promptly enter into comprehensive and genuine political dialogue with representatives of the democratic opposition and civil society, facilitated by the OSCE, leading to new free and fair presidential elections under international observation”.

In turn, in another statement, the UK authorities announced the introduction of the fifth round of sanctions under the UK’s Belarus sanctions regime, “carefully targeting the Lukashenko regime whilst minimising impact on ordinary Belarusians“.

In particular, the sanctions lists includes OJSC Belaruskali which, according to London, is “a major source of revenue and foreign currency for the Lukashenko regime“. In addition, sanctions are imposed on eight individuals, including “five propagandists who played a key part in the spread of disinformation in Belarus“, as well as on a judge and assistant prosecutor.

The EU has added 11 entities to the sanctions lists in respect of Belarus.

Sanctions, in particular, were introduced against the following companies: Belavia, Belorusneft, Belshina, Grodno Azot, TSENTRKURORT, the Minsk hotel, the Planeta hotel, Separate service for active events of the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus.

Belarusian judges, representatives of the border service and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – in total, 17 persons – are also included in the sanctions lists.

The sanctions lists include high-ranking representatives of the Foreign Ministry (including the head of the information department Anatoly Glaz), the security department (including Igor Kryuchkov, Anatoly Lappo), as well as heads of local border services of Belarus.

Within the framework of new sanctions against Belarus, Canada has included Dmitry Lukashenko, the son of the President of the Republic of Belarus, to the sanctions lists. In total, 24 persons and seven entities are affected by the sanctions, namely: state enterprise TSENTRKURORT, Presidential Sports Club, LLC GuardService, CJSC BelTechExport, OJSC Peleng, OJSC 140 Repair Plant and OJSC Agat – Electromechanical Plant.