This decision of the twenty-seven endorsed a proposal submitted by the European Commission at the end of September.
Le Monde with AFP
In response to “the hybrid attack” launched by Minsk, accused of organizing an influx of migrants at the borders of the European Union (EU), this one suspended, Tuesday, November 9, provisions to facilitate The issuance of visas for officials of the Belarusian regime.
This decision of the twenty-seven endorsed a proposal submitted by the European Commission at the end of September. It intervenes at the moment when the tension rises on the border with Poland, which blocks the passage of migrant groups from Belarus and deployed thousands of soldiers, and while the EU considers new sanctions for the regime. from Alexander Loukachenko.
The approved Tuesday “will not affect” Ordinary Belarusian citizens, who will continue to benefit, under the Agreement to facilitate the issue of visas, the same benefits as those of which they currently receive “, says a communiqué of the EU Council, institution representing the Member States.
“We strongly condemn and reject the pursuit of the instrumentalization of migration by the Belarusian regime. It is unacceptable that Belarus plays with the lives of human beings for political purposes,” said the Minister of the Slovenian interior, Ales Hojs, whose country provides the rotating presidency of the EU. “The decision taken today is once again testifying to our common desire to continue to fight against this ongoing hybrid attack,” he added.
New penalties envisaged
The provisions facilitating the issue of visas in particular by supporting documents and reducing rights are suspended for the members of official delegations Belarus, the members of the national and regional governments and parliaments as well as supreme and constitutional prices “in the ‘Exercise of their functions “.
The EU has accused Minsk from orchestrated the transit of migrants to the EU, by Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, in retaliation to the sanctions imposed by the EU as a result of the repression opposition in Belarus.
Monday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called on the Member States to approve new sanctions against the Belarusian authorities and to consider measures against airlines that carry migrants in Belarus.
New sanctions should be discussed at a meeting of foreign ministers on Monday. First economic sanctions adopted at the end of June struck the key sectors of potash, oil and tobacco. The individual sanctions of the EU against officials of the Belarusian regime are currently targeting 166 people, including the President and two of his sons.