Brussels urged the EU to step up pressure on Lukashenko’s regime and warned against strengthening the alliance with Russia

The European Union (EU) warned on Tuesday that Vladimir Putin’s alliance with the regime of Alexander Lukashenko will mark the future of the continental bloc’s relations with Russia.

The leaders of the European Union will take into account Russian support for the Belarusian regime when they sit down to study the way forward at the next European summit, as recalled by the head of European diplomacy, Josep borrell, during a debate in the European Parliament.

For the end-of-month European Council, European diplomacy led by Borrell will present heads of state and government with a report with different options for deciding the future of relations with Moscow which will also weigh on the alliance developed with Minsk after the fraudulent elections last August.

As Borrell admitted, Russian support is essential and has been renewed in recent weeks. “I agree that we are facing a dictator and I agree that he has the support of Russia. I completely agree that we must continue to use pressure instruments “, he explained in his speech to the European Parliament.

In front of parliamentarians, he explained that Minsk has stepped up the crackdown on its population, reaching a point where “any expression of dissent is brutally suppressed”. “There are no more massive protests because the repression is quite simply systematic”, he denounced.

For this reason, he defended the approval of new sanctions against Lukashenko and his entourage, without affecting Belarusian citizens as much as possible. “To make an omelet, you have to break eggs. We will take measures that will affect the economy, but we must support civil society, the free press, the rule of law and the holding of free elections “, a point.

Throughout the debate, Most MEPs called on the European Union to stand firm and defend Belarusians against regime crackdown by approving new sanctions against Lukashenko. Many insisted on the need to strengthen the opposition and civil society in the country. In addition, they demanded to close ranks with the United States to increase the pressure on Minsk.

For his part, Borrell warned that the hijacking of an airliner by Belarus and the later arrest of an opposition journalist -Roman Protasevich- and his partner “crossed a lot of red lines”.

The “hijacking” of the Ryanair plane which was en route from Athens to Vilnius, the Spanish diplomat said, “crossed many red lines” not only posing a risk to the safety of the more than 100 passengers on board of the plane but also a violation of the rules of international aviation. He also found the arrest of Protasevich to be “abominable” and the forced confessions that followed broadcast on state television by the journalist, who showed signs of torture.

Despite growing international pressure, Lukashenko promulgated a law on Tuesday that changes criminal regulations and, among other measures, toughens sanctions for organizing unauthorized demonstrations and rehabilitating Nazism.

Now, those involved in the celebration of massive activities and breaches of order who have already received administrative sanctions twice in a year, they can be criminally prosecuted with a prison sentence of up to three years.

In addition, the responsibility to organize and participate in “actions seriously undermining public order” where the prison sentence is reduced from three years to four years is tightened.

They will also face a criminal sanction of members of organizations declared extremist and of persons who collaborate with them.

The owners of Internet portals will also be liable to sanctions in the event of the dissemination of prohibited information and in the event of Violations repeated twice a year will be fined or imprisoned for up to two years.

Tightening of criminal law is part of a series of repressive measures taken by Lukashenko after the massive anti-government protests that erupted in this country after the August 2020 presidential elections, which went unrecognized by the opposition and Western countries.

With information from Europa Press and EFE

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