U.S. Welcomes Imposition Of EU Sectoral Sanctions Against Lukashenka's Regime
- 25.06.2021, 8:58
The U.S. will monitor the situation in Belarus.
The United States welcomes the introduction of the new EU sectoral sanctions against the official Minsk and will monitor the situation in Belarus in the coming weeks, said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kara McDonald during the online forum "New Belarus Against Torture," organized by the Belarusian diaspora on June 24.
"The United States, like many countries around the world, was deeply encouraged by the peaceful protest of the Belarusians for the opportunity to vote in free and fair elections," said the diplomat. "But Lukashenka's regime responded to a peaceful desire for democratic changes with repression and violence," reports BelaPAN.
MacDonald reminded that the US is one of 17 members of the OSCE Moscow Mechanism, within the frames of which independent experts gather information about violations of human rights in Belarus. "The U.S. government has received a lot of documented information about torture and abuse," she specified. "Torture in all its forms is beneath human dignity."
As reported, on June 24th, the Council of the European Union approved sectoral economic sanctions against the Belarusian authorities. It became a response to the continuing human rights violations in the country, the repression of civil society, democratic opposition and journalists, as well as the forced landing of the Ryanair plane and the detention of journalist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, who were on board.
The new sanctions include a ban on the direct or indirect sale, supply, transfer or export to any person in Belarus of equipment, technology or software designed for use in monitoring or interception of Internet and telephone communications. The transfer of dual-use goods and technology for military use is prohibited.
The sanctions restrict trade in oil products, potash fertilizers and goods used for tobacco production. Access to the EU capital markets is restricted, and insurance and reinsurance of the Belarusian government and Belarusian government agencies and institutions are prohibited. It is prohibited for the European Investment Bank to finance public sector projects, while the EU member-states are obliged to limit the participation of multilateral development banks in Belarus, of which they are members.
Earlier, on June 21, a fourth package of sanctions against Belarus was approved. There are 78 individuals and eight legal entities on the list. On the same day, the U.S. imposed new sanctions on another five Belarusian legal entities and 16 individuals. The Center for the isolation of offenders of the Minsk city executive committee, Department of Internal Affairs of Brest region executive committee, Interior Ministry troops, the Main Department for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption of the Interior Ministry and the State Security Committee are among the legal entities, against which the restrictions are imposed.
Canada and Great Britain have also imposed new sanctions.