Maxim Guchek
This means that the country will no longer participate in the fight against illegal migration and organized crime, it said. In addition, entry bans were imposed on representatives of “EU structures” and individual member states.
In addition, Belarus (once: Belarus) withdrew its representative from the EU for consultations and called on the Union to withdraw its representative Dirk Schuebel for the time being. The German diplomat was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for this purpose. He was told that pressure from the West on an independent country was unacceptable. The sanctions threatened national security and harmed the economy and citizens, it said. Economic penalties are still being worked on at the moment.
The Foreign Ministry stressed that the obligations under the Eastern Partnership could no longer be fulfilled either. This will also have an impact on the fight against illegal migration. Ruler Alexander Lukashenko had already threatened to let refugees through en masse in the direction of the EU. Lithuania, with its almost 680 kilometers long border with Belarus – also the EU external border – is currently complaining about a high number of migrants from Syria, Iraq and Iran, for example.
Belarus hopes that the EU will recognize “the harmfulness and lack of prospects of the violent approach” and return to dialogue. The offer of cooperation on equal terms will remain, it said. After the forced landing of a European passenger plane in Minsk and the arrest of a government critic, the EU put far-reaching economic sanctions into force. This is intended to weaken Lukashenko’s power apparatus. The sanctions are aimed primarily at state-owned companies.