EU countries should take additional measures against Russia if Moscow continues its policy of militarizing Belarus and integrating with it.
Alexander Lukashenko’s rule is illegal, as his term expired on November 5, 2020, and any documents signed by him must be rejected.
According to MEPs, this also applies to the so-called “roadmaps” for integration, which Lukashenko agreed on during talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 9.
Roadmaps mean creating a single oil and gas market, supplying $ 1 billion in weapons, and strengthening economic integration. One year after the so-called August 9, 2020 elections, the Belarusian authorities continue to repress their own people: more than 40,000 people have been detained, including nearly 500 journalists, and many have been arrested and subjected to pressure and torture.
Lukashenko openly threatened to send flows of drugs and migrants to the EU and provoked a migration crisis: about 4,000 people from Belarus illegally entered Lithuania, 1,400 – in Poland, about 400 – in Latvia, with at least five people were killed by depletion and cold on the Belarusian border.
In this regard, MEPs call for the introduction of the fifth package of economic sanctions as soon as possible, focusing on key sectors of the Belarusian economy, as well as public and private enterprises that support and finance the Lukashenko regime.