MINSK, 21 December (BelTA) - Europe has no right to determine the guilt of sovereign states, Aleksandr Shpakovsky, the head of the information and analysis center Actual Concept, said on the air of the Belarus 1 TV channel on 18 December, BelTA has learned.
“Europe determining the guilt of sovereign states that are not EU entities is a legal collision. This is odd,” Aleksandr Shpakovsky said.
Commenting on the EU's approval of the third package of sanctions against Belarus, which also applies to some enterprises, the political expert said that such decisions are confusing. He cited the example of Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant: this enterprise does not cooperate with Western countries. What harm can it inflict on the European Union? “This applies to most of the enterprises on the sanctions list," he said.
According to Vladimir Pertsov, director of the Minsk office of the Mir TV company in Belarus, by imposing sanctions the EU declares itself a ‘community of exceptional nations' that can restrict the rights of other people without trial. “Sanctions against enterprises are protectionism. This is contrary to the UN charter,” he said.
Director - Editor-in-Chief of the Belarus Segodnya publishing house Dmitry Zhuk is convinced that the effect of sanctions is very questionable. They, on the contrary, motivate countries under sanctions to develop further. “Citizens and countries, as well as businesses are looking for innovative ways of development and thus get ahead of their competitors,” he said.
Dmitry Zhuk believes that sanctions are also meant to exert psychological pressure. Their initiators, however, have long ago devalued the importance of these methods of influence. “They are not an instrument of psychological pressure anymore, they are not big news anymore. On the other hand, they mark us as enemies for their ilk,” Dmitry Zhuk stressed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented earlier on another package of sanctions against Belarus. The ministry stated that Belarus had prepared retaliatory measures, some of which are quite sensitive. “Certain European opponents should not be surprised and should not try to shift the blame later on. Everything is absolutely clear,” the ministry underlined.
