The European Union should impose sanctions on Russia in the wake of the continuous unrest in Belarus following a presidential election there, Polish member of the European Parliament, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, said on Thursday, insinuating Moscow's alleged role in the protests
WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th August, 2020) The European Union should impose sanctions on Russia in the wake of the continuous unrest in Belarus following a presidential election there, Polish member of the European Parliament, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, said on Thursday, insinuating Moscow's alleged role in the protests.
Several EU member states have called upon Brussels to consider sanctions on Belarus in connection with the government's crackdown on protesters.
"What the EU could do and what Poland could offer is to target the sanctions on Russia rather than on Belarus. It is like punishing the sword, not the arm. If we could neutralize the role of Russian intervention or even annexation, then, I think, Belarusians will cope with building democracy on their own," Saryusz-Wolski told the Polish Radio.
The lawmaker further slammed the EU's response to events in Belarus as "insufficient and to some extent disgraceful and cowardly."
"The attitude toward what is happening in Belarus would have been completely different if it was not for the fact that those in power in the EU today value their relations and business with Russia higher than the support of democratic movements in Belarus, thus recognizing it, in a sense, a territory of Russian influence," Saryusz-Wolski added.
Poland is among the European countries, predominantly in the east and the Baltic region, with strong anti-Russian sentiments to the point of Moscow calling it a "Russophobic obsession."
Belarus has long been labeled by media and various European officials as "Europe's last dictatorship." Brussels has repeatedly called upon Minsk to exercise more European standards with regard, in particular, to human rights and democratic processes.
This past Sunday, Belarus held a presidential election which, according to official figures, ended in a landslide victory for incumbent president Alexander Lukashenko with over 80 percent of the vote.
The Belarusian opposition refused to recognize the results and thousands of people took to the streets in Minsk and other Belarusian cities in the days following the vote.
The protests in Minsk have grown increasingly violent, with already one confirmed fatality. The government deployed special security forces and limited internet access in the city. According to scattered reports and footage, police have amply used force to disperse the protesters. Thousands of people were arrested and many journalists were detained, deported, assaulted or simply went missing, among them are many Russian journalists.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on the Belarusian authorities to respect the rights of journalists and let them perform their professional duties, while urging journalists to observe Belarus' laws.
