DISINFO: Belarus has been strangled by illegal sanctions
SUMMARY
Where are all these international organisations that see it all - the UN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the IMF, the World Bank, when (Belarus) has been strangled with illegal sanctions for a third decade already?
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about EU sanctions on Belarus, framing them as unjustified illegal pressure.
The EU has the right to impose economic sanctions within the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter. Crucially, any such measures must strictly conform to European and international law. Other international actors have the right to impose them under international law as well under certain conditions.
Since October 2020, the EU has imposed five packages of sanctions in connection with the situation in Belarus.
Firstly, the EU did not recognise the falsified results of the Belarusian Presidential election on 9 August 2020 or the new mandate claimed by Alexander Lukashenka. On 2 October 2020, the Council imposed the first round of restrictive measures over ongoing repression. The EU imposed two more rounds of restrictive measures against the Belarusian regime in 2020, followed by the fourth package of sanctions in view of the escalation of serious human rights violations and the forced landing of a Ryanair flight.
On 2 December 2021, the EU adopted the 5th package of sanctions over continued human rights abuses and the instrumentalisation of migrants as part of a hybrid attack on the EU. The EU, UK, US, Canada issued coordinated sanctions against the Belarus regime. This came amid the growing instrumentalisation of migration by the Belarusian authorities.
Belarus is also an accomplice in the Russian war against Ukraine. Belarus has served as a staging post for Russian troops, missiles, and aircraft, both before and after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Many such attacks are launched from Russian airplanes in Belarus airspace.
On 2 March 2022, the Council of the EU imposed further sanctions on Belarus for its role in the Russian military aggression on Ukraine. The UK and the U.S. have also imposed similar measures.
The EU continues to support the Belarusian people and civil society and outlined a 3 billion EUR economic support package for a future democratic Belarus.
See similar cases claiming that the EU adopts sanctions against Belarus to manage its own internal contradictions, that Western sanctions are illegal and hostile actions, that Any EU sanctions against Belarus are illegitimate, and that New Western sanctions against Belarus are illegal, inhumane and cynical.