MINSK, 21 February (BelTA) – Press Secretary of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Anatoly Glaz has commented on the new sanctions of the European Union. The commentary was posted on the website of the ministry, BelTA has learned.
On 18 February, the European Union adopted a new decision on restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus, but this fact was not widely publicized.
“In fact, European bureaucrats are not interested in public attention to this document. They know that they have already crossed all red lines. The timing of the move suggests they wanted to keep it under the radar. After all, what happened? The EU officials, perhaps jointly with lobbyists, took advantage of the bureaucratic loopholes they created and expanded the sanctions against Belarus under the guise of some technical adjustments. Pay attention to the timing: the document was published on 18 February and came into force on Saturday, 19 February,” Anatoly Glaz said.
As a result, two new legal entities were included in the package of sanctions, while the possibility of challenging all the restrictive measures in the EU court was made more difficult. “This speaks volumes: the EU is well aware of the illegality of such actions, therefore they are trying to rule out any possibility of an impartial trial. This is how the principles of the rule of law and the right to a fair trial declared by Europeans are implemented. Obviously, they could not care less about it when they want to achieve their own goals, just as they don't care about Belarusians who will be affected by this voluntarism,” the foreign ministry noted.
The press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that the European officials carried everything through covertly without convening the EU leading political bodies. “In fact, here it is, another round of sanctions, albeit in disguise of some technical document. It is clear that this move is part of a bigger, cynical and cold-blooded plan to worsen the condition of Belarusians, to cripple our business entities and their employees. However, they are not succeeding so far, and this is delivering a serious blow to inflated ambitions of individual European players who are driven by commercial interests,” Anatoly Glaz said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that in this situation, European officials need to take better care of their nervous system, because such moves will backfire. “We will retaliate in the right way and at the right time,” the foreign ministry warned.
The ministry once again called on the EU to drop its confrontational, aggressive, militant policy and to take on board the real interests of the citizens of Belarus and the EU member states who want normal and constructive good neighborly cooperation.
