EU summit: Belarus sanctioned

EU leaders imposed sanctions on Belarus on Friday and condemned a crackdown against opposition protesters in Minsk.

Following a two day summit in Brussels, member states said the elections that returned president Alexander Lukashenko to power were “fundamentally flawed.”

“The EU will take restrictive measures against those....responsible for the violation of international electoral standards,” Ursula Plassnik Austrian foreign minister and current holder of the EU presidency declared.

“Belarus is a sad exception...on a continent of open and democratic societies,” she added.

Brussels had already declared that the presidential vote was not free and fair and violated international democratic norms.

Officials say new sanctions against Belarus are likely to include a travel ban against president Lukashenko.

But no economic sanctions are foreseen as officials are keen to focus attention on political leaders rather than Belarusian citizens.

On Friday police detained hundreds of demonstrators who had spent a fourth night in a central square to protest Lukashenko’s election victory.

“The authorities are destroying freedom, truth and justice. There was only enough democracy for three days and this shows the essence of the regime that has been established in Belarus,” opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich told reporters.

On Friday Brussels lent its support to the opposition groups fighting for democratic reforms.

“Their continuing and brave efforts to advance the cause of democracy in exceptionally difficult circumstances deserve our full recognition and support,” Plassnik told a press briefing.

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