The absence of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the new EU sanctions lists is an attempt by Europe to play “cat and mouse” with the leader of the republic in order to hinder integration processes within the Union State, said Elena Panina, a member of the State Duma’s international affairs committee.
The European Union on Friday, after being published in an official magazine, introduced additional individual sanctions against Belarusian officials, accusing them of violence against protesters and falsification of the presidential election results. In total, 40 people fell under the sanctions, including mainly the security forces and representatives of the electoral bodies of Belarus.
In an interview with RIA Novosti, the deputy noted that the purpose of the sanctions is “to split the state structures of Belarus into” clean “and” unclean “, to demoralize the state apparatus.”
“As for Lukashenka himself, who was not included in the sanctions list, the West is trying to continue playing cat and mouse with him in order to hinder the integration processes within the Union State. However, after everything that has already happened, this is unlikely to work.” , – stated Panina.
Massive opposition protests began across Belarus on August 9, after the presidential election, which was won for the sixth time by Lukashenko – according to the CEC, he gained 80.1% of the vote. In the early days, the actions were suppressed by the security forces; against the protesters who did not agree with the results, they used tear gas, water cannons, flash-noise grenades, rubber bullets. According to official data, over 6.7 thousand people were detained in the first days. As reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic, hundreds of people were injured during the riots, including over 130 law enforcement officers. The authorities have officially confirmed the deaths of three protesters.
Protest actions continue to this day, the largest – on weekends. In addition, events are held by supporters of Lukashenka, whose inauguration took place on 23 September.