BRUSSELS: The European Union imposed sanctions Friday on 40 officials suspected of election misconduct and a brutal security crackdown on protesters in Belarus, which quickly retaliated by announcing its own sanctions against the EU and recalling its ambassadors from Poland and Lithuania.
Russia, in turn, said it would follow Belarus’ lead on sanctioning officials in the 27-nation European bloc.
The individuals subject to the sanctions that EU leaders endorsed overnight do not include Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, whose disputed reelection to a sixth term has triggered nearly eight weeks of protests and a government crackdown on peaceful protesters, opposition activists and journalists.
The EU leaders suggested that Lukashenko, once dubbed Europes last dictator, could be subject to sanctions later, if he does not enter into talks with his country’s political opposition. Those targeted in the meantime include Interior Ministry, police and security officials, as well as members of the Belarus Central Electoral Commission.
This sends a strong message of EU support to the democratic right of the Belarusian people to elect their president through free and fair elections, and our condemnation of repression and violence against people exercising their fundamental rights, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
The leaders also urged the EUs executive arm, the European Commission, to prepare a comprehensive plan of economic support for democratic Belarus.
The Foreign Ministry of Belarus gave no details about its retaliatory sanctions list, but warned of more serious consequences such as pulling out of joint projects or revising the country’s diplomatic relations with the EU if the bloc ratchets up the sanctions flywheel.
Belarus is always, in words and in deeds, against confrontation. We are for dialogue and understanding. But as a sovereign state, were also determined, albeit not without regret, to respond to unfriendly actions in order to naturally defend our national interests, the ministry said in a statement.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized the EUs move and said Moscow would adopt the Belarusian sanctions list since the move would be in line with Russia’s obligations under its union agreement with Belarus, a former Soviet republic.
Borrell said the European Union hopes its action will encourage the Belarusian leadership to refrain from further violence, to free all the unlawfully detained people, including the political prisoners, launch a thorough investigation into all alleged violations and abuses, and engage in a genuine and inclusive dialogue with the opposition in view of finding a peaceful way out of the current crisis.
EU agreement on the sanctions was held up for weeks by one of the smallest member countries, a standoff that embarrassed the worlds biggest trading bloc. Cyprus used its veto to block the action, which required a unanimous vote of the 27 EU members.
Cyprus wanted its EU partners to also impose sanctions against Turkey for its energy exploration work in waters where the Mediterranean island nation claims exclusive rights before it would agree to the Belarus sanctions. The deadlock was broken just after midnight when the leaders issued a statement in Cyprus’ support and criticized Turkey.
All EU member countries, including Cyprus, reject the official results of the Aug. 9 presidential election in Belarus, which gave Lukashenko 80% of the vote to extend his 26-year tenure. Like Belarusian opposition leaders, they all want a new presidential election held.
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said Friday he was pleased with the EU summits conclusions because his goal of rallying fellow European leaders behind a demand to hold Turkey accountable for unlawful actions in Cypriot and Greek waters had been met.
Cyprus said it agreed with other European Union members to forego more sanctions on Turkey in order to give diplomacy another chance at getting Ankara to halt its hydrocarbons prospecting in its waters and to ease tensions.
Sanctions against Turkey were never an end in themselves, Anastasiades told reporters in Brussels. At the same time, he said EU leaders have left the door open to impose them at their next scheduled summit in December, if Ankara doesnt cease and desist by then.
I repeat that the responsibility and the burden for what comes next are on Turkey, he said.
Anastasiades remarks appeared designed to save face after his government strongly suggested in the run-up to the summit that it would accept nothing less than fresh sanctions against Turkey. Cypriot officials had said sanctions would drive the point home that EU pronouncements of solidarity with member states must be backed up with actions.
Two Turkish vessels escorted by warships continue a search for gas inside Cyprus exclusive economic zone. A similar move by Turkey in August in an area that Greece claims falls within its continental shelf sharply raised military tensions between the two NATO allies. Those tensions subsided after Turkey pulled the research vessel back, opening a window for negotiations on delimiting the two countries maritime borders.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu dismissed the summits conclusions as aiming only to satisfy members Cyprus and Greece while making veiled threats to impose sanctions. He also criticized the EU for calling Turkeys operations in the eastern Mediterranean illegal.
The EU extended a carrot as well as a stick to Turkey, agreeing that if Ankara reacts positively in talks with Cyprus and Greece, the bloc would launch a positive political EU-Turkey agenda with trade and customs incentives.
If not, the leaders warned, the EU will use all the instruments and the options at its disposal, to defend its interests and those of its member states.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakisakis echoed his Cypriot counterpart, saying that EU leaders had made it clear, with absolute certainty” that EU-Turkish relations would remain in a deep freeze if Turkey continued its aggressive behavior.
The Greek prime minister repeated that if talks with Turkey on a maritime border deal fall through, Athens would be prepared to take the matter to the international court at the Hague.
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Yuras Karmanau in Kyiv and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this story.
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