On Monday, September 21, the foreign ministers of several EU member states met in Brussels with visiting Belarusian opposition leader-in-exile Svetlana Tikkanovskaya, while continuing preparations to launch sanctions against the government of Belarus.
After a breakfast meeting with Tikanovskaya this morning, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Borrelli said that Tikanovskaya gave a summary of events in Belarus, and that the courage and perseverance of the people, and especially the leadership of women among them, impressed the foreign ministers of the EU member states. He also noted that the EU will support Belarus in an inclusive national dialogue on the right of the population of Belarus to free and fair elections, while reiterating that Brussels does not recognize Lukashenka as President of Belarus.
German Foreign Minister Maas said that the EU considers the lack of progress in Belarus over the past few weeks and Lukashenka’s violence against peaceful demonstrators unacceptable, and will discuss whether to consider launching sanctions against Lukashenka himself, in addition to sanctions against the regime, asset freezes and travel bans. At the same time, the Foreign Minister’s mission will also consider how to provide financial support to the population of Belarus and to society at large. Poland has already issued an appeal for financial support for Belarus, starting at 1 billion euros, which is needed to stabilize the society. Prior to the Polish government’s proposal, Russian President Vladimir Putin had promised Lukashenko a loan of $1.5 billion. In addition, on Monday, September 21, the Lithuanian government, which provides asylum to Tikkanovskaya, announced that it would join Poland and Romania in appealing to other European partners to develop, during the September 24-25 Commission meeting, unified support for democratic Belarus, including trade preferences, visa-free entry to the EU, support for Belarus’ accession to the WTO, and the establishment of a new membership committee. Applications, funding to support Belarus’ energy reforms, transition to a market economy, and more.
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