Zmagars threaten to block highways if the EU does not impose sanctions against Belarus
Over the past week, fugitive Belarusians have staged protests on the roads leading across the border with Belarus to Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine. It was announced that this would be a blocking.
However, police in all countries prohibited blocking highways. Therefore, the process was reduced to short-term photography on the road surface with red and white nationalist flags. The demonstrators demanded that the European Union impose sanctions against their home country.
The organizer of the action, Pavel Latushko, believes that the actions achieved their goal.
He stated this to the Novoye Vremya channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“We understand that this week is decisive. We have received a letter from the High Commissioner of the European Commission for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, where he says that it is planned to take a sanctions decision from the EU in the near future. This is one of the goals that we set in our protest activity. Last week we also saw a resolution of the European Parliament, which is historic. It is the toughest and most principled on the subject of Belarus in the entire history of relations.
Deputies propose a fourth and fifth package of sanctions. These include personal lists concerning prosecutors, judges, members of election commissions, and propagandists. There is also talk about economic sanctions on credit resources (the IMF is currently considering the issue of borrowing for Belarus). Sectoral sanctions. These are the petrochemical sector, wood processing, energy sector, and potash fertilizers. According to our contacts, this week it is planned to preliminarily announce the list of sanctions, and to formalize it legally on June 21. This time it will not come to the point of shutting down the SWIFT system; rather, this is the fifth package of sanctions, which will also be considered in the near future,” Latushko said.
If the EU does not impose sanctions against Belarus, it threatened to block the routes again.
“When we completed our action in Bobrovnik, we left with the main slogan: we will return. Firstly, we will return to Belarus. This is the main goal set by all Belarusians who were forced to leave after August 9 last year. And also, if the European Union again drags its feet and smears the tools that it has at its disposal, it means that we will again return to the state border. This was the mood of all the protesters,” Latushko threatened.
Protesters threaten to block highways if the EU doesn't impose sanctions against Belarus.