Belarus, in response to EU sanctions, bans the entry of representatives of European structures and persons from EU countries who contributed to the introduction of restrictive measures, the republic’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
“In retaliation, the entry to Belarus will be banned for representatives of European structures and persons from the European Union countries that contributed to the introduction of restrictive measures. The Belarusian side continues to develop other response measures, including economic ones”, – the foreign ministry said in a statement.
At the same time, the Foreign Ministry hopes that officials of the EU and its member states realize that decisions on the use of a forceful approach are “flawed and futile” in relations with Minsk.
“The proposals of the Belarusian side on the development of dialogue, interaction and cooperation with the European Union on the basis of the principles of equality and mutual respect remain in force”, – the statement says.
After the presidential elections in Belarus on August 9, 2020, in which Alexander Lukashenko won for the sixth time, who, according to the CEC, gained 80.1% of the vote, massive opposition protests began in the country, to suppress which the security forces, among other things, used special means and special equipment. In Belarus, criminal cases have been initiated against a number of opposition leaders, including calls for the seizure of power, the creation of an extremist group, a conspiracy to seize state power by unconstitutional means, and an attempted terrorist attack. On February 11, the KGB of Belarus announced that the situation in the country had stabilized, the peak of the protests had passed, their manifestations had practically disappeared.
The Belarusian authorities have repeatedly stated that protests in the country are being coordinated from abroad. Lukashenka accused the West of direct interference in the situation in the republic, noted that the unrest is directed by the United States, and the Europeans “play along” with it. Relations between Belarus and Western countries after the elections deteriorated sharply, the European Union, Great Britain, the USA, Canada and a number of other countries gradually introduced sanctions against Belarusian officials, as well as individual enterprises, accusing Minsk of election violations and human rights violations.
The situation was aggravated after the incident with an emergency landing in Minsk of a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius on 23 May, due to a false report of mining. This plane was flown by the founder of the Nexta Telegram channel, recognized as extremist in Belarus, Roman Protasevich, he was detained. European countries said that Minsk forced the plane to land at its airport under an invented pretext. Some airlines decided to fly bypassing the airspace of Belarus. The EU Council has banned the use of the airspace and airports of the European Union by Belarusian air carriers. The EU, Great Britain, Canada and the United States have decided to expand the list of individuals, enterprises and organizations against which restrictive measures have been introduced. In addition, the economic sectoral sanctions of the European Union against Belarus came into force on Friday. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said to this that in the coming weeks Minsk will gradually launch retaliatory measures to EU sanctions.