The European Union Introduced the Third Sanctions Package against Lukashenko’s Regime

The penalty list includes 29 individuals and seven companies and organizations. The European Union has already imposed sanctions against 88 Belarusian officials since October. The European Union has officially introduced the third package of sanctions against the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko’s entourage. The penalty list includes 29 more people and seven companies and organizations from Belarus, according to a publication published in the Official EU Journal on Thursday, December 17. The sanctions list included, among others, the speaker of the upper house of the parliament of Belarus Natalya Kochanova, Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Sivak and the country's prosecutor general Andrei Shved. The list mentions as well the head of Belteleradiocompany Ivan Eismont, whose wife - Alexander Lukashenko's press secretary Natalya Eismont - was included in the previous EU sanctions list. Companies and organizations of Belarus that fall under sanctions The European Union also imposed sanctions on seven legal entities, mainly defense enterprises. These are "140th Repair Plant", which repairs tanks, "Agat - Electromechanical Plant", where automated control systems and electronics are developed, "MZKT", which produces wheelbases for various weapon systems, and "Beltechexport", which sells military equipment to others. countries. The list of legal entities subject to sanctions includes the Administrative Department of the President of the Republic of Belarus, a large private developer Dana Holdings and the IT company Sinezis LLC. The foreign ministers of the EU countries agreed to impose sanctions against companies financing Lukashenko's regime at the end of November. In general, since October 2020, the European Union has imposed sanctions on 88 Belarusians due to the falsification of the results of the presidential elections in Belarus and the harsh dispersal of protests. Sanctions were also imposed on Alexander Lukashenko himself and the heads of the country's law enforcement agencies. The persons involved in the sanctions list are banned from entering the EU, their accounts in European banks, if any, are subject to freezing. Mass protests in Belarus Since August 9, mass protests have not abated in Belarus against falsifications in the presidential elections won by Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994. Peaceful speeches of citizens who defend their votes and are convinced of rigging the voting results are harshly suppressed by riot police and special forces. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) called on the Belarusian authorities to hold new presidential elections that meet international standards.