PRAGUE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th August, 2020) The European Union has economic leverage over Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, which may be used to calm down the ongoing violence, Czech Republic's Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said he was shocked by the situation in Belarus and called on the European Union to respond.
"Recently, it seemed that president Lukashenko wanted to develop relations with the EU and improve the image of his country in the eyes of the world community. But what is happening in Belarus these days shows that this representative of the last authoritarian regime in Europe has decided to take a different path. On Friday, the situation in Belarus will be reviewed by the EU foreign ministers, including the possible use of existing economic instruments to influence Lukashenko's actions, including sanctions," the foreign minister stated.
Petricek recalled that Belarus was a member state of the Eastern Partnership initiative that implied possibility of exerting financial pressure on Minsk by Brussels.
"A question on whether in this situation it is necessary to finance some projects in Belarus arises," he said.
The unrest began in major Belarusian cities after ballot boxes closed when official preliminary numbers released showed Lukashenko leading by a wide margin. Thousands have since been arrested and one person died in cat-and-mouse scuffles with police, who have resorted to using tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons.
