News

On 31 January in Brussels, the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) decided to impose travel restrictions to the EU and an asset freeze against Belarusian governmental officials responsible for the ongoing repressions against the opposition and the civil society in the country.

The EU conclusions emphasize that the restrictive measures and the list of persons targeted will be kept open.

The decision on targeted sanctions was made together with the commitment to strengthen the EU’s engagement with the Belarusian civil society. Therefore, the Council decided to prompt the start of negotiations for visa facilitation with Minsk.

Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis called for the increase of support for the Belarusian civil society, youth and students exchange programmes, and, thereby, to create the environment necessary for the emergence of a genuine democratic alternative in Belarus.

“It is especially important to enable the development of a genuine democratic alternative. A packet solution has to be applied with regard to Belarus: strict measures must be taken against the official Minsk when necessary, and we have to make sure that the civil society in Belarus is provided with the possibilities to grow and strengthen. The real, tangible example of democracy promotion is the European Humanities University. We call on Europe to support this project as having not only a symbolic meaning, but also as a practical benefit through the education of those Belarusian citizens who return to their country,” Minister A.Ažubalis said.

The majority of the ministers who delivered speeches at the FAC expressed their countries’ support for the Vilnius-based Belarusian European Humanities University.

The EU heads of diplomacy also underlined support for representatives from the Belarusian opposition, who were detained on political grounds, and demanded their immediate release and to stop politically motivated prosecutions of the Belarusian people.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister expressed regret that despite all the efforts, Belarus had not changed the decision to terminate the mandate of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office in Minsk. Minister A.Ažubalis spoke for the continuous application of diplomatic means aiming for a meaningful OSCE presence in Belarus. The call to reconsider the decision regarding the OSCE office was also included into the FAC conclusions, as the EU foreign ministers believe that the OSCE mission in Belarus has not yet been fulfilled.

The FAC discussed the most relevant topic of today – the alarming situation in Egypt. Minister A.Ažubalis took part in the dinner of the European People’s Party’ on 30 January, during which the participants signed a letter on the situation in Egypt to the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton.

The EU-Russia relations and the ongoing negotiations on a new EU-Russia agreement were among other issues of the FAC agenda.

EU foreign ministers also discussed the EU’s actions to defend religious freedom in the Middle East. This issue was included into the agenda of the FAC following the attacks on Christian communities in Egypt and Iraq.