European Parliament calls for tougher sanctions on Belarus — UNIAN

Reuters

The European Parliament strongly condemned the forced landing of a Ryanair passenger plane in Minsk and the detention of Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevic and his partner Sofia Sapega, and called for more sanctions against the Alexander Lukashenko regime.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Thursday calling on the EU to punish those involved in forcing the plane to land in Minsk on May 23 and in detaining MEP Protasevic. News Department Report.

MEPs strongly condemned the Ryanair hijacking as an act of “state terrorism” and called for the immediate and unconditional release of Raman Platasevic, Sofia Sapega and all other political prisoners in Belarus.

The resolution said the EU sanctions list must be expanded.

READ ALSOLukashenko designates the day of the Soviet invasion of Poland and Ukraine as Belarus Unification DayUrge the EU Council to impose sanctions on Belarusian individuals and entities involved as soon as possible.

“EU member states must also act with the utmost urgency to impose the next round of sanctions on those who participated or were involved in last year’s electoral fraud in Belarus and in the subsequent human rights violations. Prosecutors, judges and law enforcement officers involved in the repression should be included in the sanctions list, as should agents working with disinformation, media, propaganda and officials supporting the regime, such as Marat Markov, who interviewed Raman Platasevic on the national channel ONT on June 2,” the report states.

In addition, MEPs called for swift economic and industrial measures targeting key sectors in Belarus, in particular crude oil and oil products, potash fertilizers, steel and wood processing. Financial support to the regime must be strictly refused, any new credit lines to the country’s banks must be denied, and investments in infrastructure or economic undertakings must be stopped.

European financial institutions must be prohibited from acquiring bonds or any other financial instruments issued by the Belarusian Government and its affiliated public institutions.

Belarus should be banned from international sports bodies and events

READ ALSOUkraine’s Foreign Ministry warns that “LPR” terrorists will be invited to Minsk to “harm” LukashenkoIn addition, the resolution calls for a ban on Belarus from international sports organizations and international events, including the European Championships, the World Championships and the Tokyo Olympics. MEPs also urged the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to remove the broadcasting rights for the upcoming Euro 2020 football tournament from Belarusian state television TVR and transfer them free of charge to the independent Belsat TV station.

Ryanair plane emergency landing: background

• May 23, 2021 Belarus A MiG-29 fighter jet was scrambled to force a Ryanair plane to land in Minsk. The plane was flying from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania. Roman Protasevic, co-founder of the Telegram opposition channel NEXTA, was on board the plane.
• Although the flight to Vilnius was much shorter, Belarusian air traffic controllers ordered the plane to fly to Minsk in case of a possible bomb threat. After the plane landed, Roman Protasevic and his girlfriend were detained. Protasevic faces the death penalty in Belarus.
• The circumstances surrounding the Ryanair flight’s emergency landing in Minsk will be investigated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).