In Moscow, they ambiguously reacted to the lifting of sanctions from Belarus

The decision of the European Union on the suspension of sanctions against Belarus in Moscow was perceived ambiguously. The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that the Kremlin was “taken into account”, and recalled that the Russian authorities “always talked about the unacceptability of sanctions rhetoric”. The head of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, Konstantin Kosachev, found that the suspension of the EU sanctions against Belarusian officials could be part of the global “chess game”, the essence of which is to be separated from Russia of the Allies.

Photo: Alexander Miridonov, Kommersant / Buy photos

On Friday, the EU Official Journal published the decision of the EU Council on October 29 to suspend four months (until February 29, 2016) restrictive measures against 170 individuals and 3 legal entities of Belarus, for which the ban on visas to the European Union and freezing of assets in European banks are temporarily stopped. The list also includes the president of the country Alexander Lukashenko. The EU restrictive measures were suspended against a number of companies (among them Beltekhport, Beltech Holding, Special Privorservice).

The suspension of sanctions became a “reward” for the liberation of a number of Belarusian political prisoners and the mediation role of Minsk in the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. At the same time, the French Secretary of State in European Affairs Arlem Desir noted that, although the sanctions are suspended, European officials "hold their hand on the pulse and, if necessary, are ready to resume their action at any moment."

Recall, commenting in an interview with “Kommersant” the EU decision on the intention to lift sanctions from Belarus, the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, Vladimir Makei, noted: “We do not feed any pink hopes that all doors and the European Union will be opened in a hug. But there is a tendency to normalize relations ”(http://kommersant.ru/doc/2841884).

Alexandra Lukashenko is crossed out of the black list

Sanctions against Belarus were introduced in several stages. The initial sanctions list of the EU from 2004 included four officials who, according to Brussels, were involved in the disappearance of opposition politicians in Belarus in 1999–2000. In December 2004, after parliamentary elections and referendum, two more people replenished the black list. In April 2006, the list was expanded to 37 people, responsible, according to the EU, for violation of human rights during the presidential campaign. After the rigid dispersal of the street action on December 19, 2010 and the repressions followed by the opposition and civil society, the European Union imposed sanctions against more than 130 Belarusian officials, including in relation to Alexander Lukashenko. The defendants in black lists were banned from entering the EU, their financial assets in European banks were subject to freezing.

In Moscow, the decision of the European Union on the suspension of sanctions against Belarus was perceived ambiguously. The press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin was “taken note” in the Kremlin. At the same time, he emphasized that the Russian authorities "as a whole at various levels in Russia spoke of the unacceptability of sanctions rhetoric." “In this case, we are talking not only about Lukashenko and Belarus, but in general about the unacceptability of such a technique in international relations,” Mr. Peskov said.

Why the United States extended sanctions against Belarus

The head of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Konstantin Kosachev also noted that the political processes in Belarus "have never been so dramatic in order to deserve sanctions." At the same time, he stated that the suspension of Brussels of sanctions against Belarusian officials could be part of the global “chess game”. “It seems to me that in many ways this is a reflection of a geopolitical game, in which an essential point is an attempt to tear away from Russia as many allies, and in this case again the authors of this decision, in any case, it seems to me, try to apply the principle of“ share and rule, ”the senator told reporters on Friday.“ I hope that our Belarusian colleagues will not be diverse, which is called the head. From success, and they will understand that in this situation they can be nothing more than a figure in a global chess game. ”

At the same time, Konstantin Kosachev expressed the hope that "relations between Russia and Belarus and this test of copper pipes for Belarus will withstand."

Dmitry Bogomolov

How Belarus was protected from the pressure of the West

With a sharp criticism of Washington, the press secretary of the Foreign Ministry of Belarus Andrei Savinov made in January 2013. He told reporters that, according to the memorandum signed in Budapest about security guarantees and in connection with the accession of Belarus to the agreement on non -proliferation of nuclear weapons, the United States voluntarily took on certain obligations. In particular, according to Mr. Savin, the American side pledged under no circumstances to apply the measures of economic coercion in relation to Belarus. Read more

"I hope our Belarusian colleagues will not dizzy from success"