US, EU Officials Call for More Sanctions Against Belarus
U.S. and European officials condemned Belarus’ diversion of a civilian Ryanair flight this week for the purpose of arresting a journalist and called for global sanctions.
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Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union should “put sanctions” on President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime and “suspend their ability” to use international organizations, U.S. and European lawmakers said. “It is clear that the current administration in Minsk has no respect for the safety of our citizens and cannot be trusted to defend their rights,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J., along with top foreign affairs lawmakers from the United Kingdom, Germany and elsewhere, said in a May 23 joint statement. “This act of state terror and kidnapping is a threat to all those who travel in Europe and beyond. It cannot be allowed to stand.”
The 27 heads of the EU's member states are also considering sanctions after condemning Lukashenko's actions and calling for the release of journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, European Council President Charles Michel said in a May 25 statement. Michel also said the forced landing is a “threat to the security of civil aviation” and “international security.” Other European officials also denounced the move and pledged that sanctions were coming. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the actions “utterly unacceptable.”
President Joe Biden welcomed EU calls for “targeted economic sanctions” against Belarus and said the U.S. may take more action. “I ... have asked my team to develop appropriate options to hold accountable those responsible, in close coordination with the European Union, other allies and partners, and international organizations,” Biden said May 24. The EU and several countries, including the U.S., have already imposed sanctions against Belarus for what they said was a rigged presidential election last year and government-led human rights violations (see 2009300011, 2012150014 and 2104190010).