The EU and Belarus: Listen to Tichanovskaya

The EU should take seriously the Tichanovskaya opposition’s call for tougher sanctions against Belarus. Because she has not yet exhausted her opportunities to meet Lukashenko’s environment.

Svetlana Tichanovskaya is an incredibly courageous woman. Her husband is in prison in Belarus, she had to flee into exile with her two children and every day she has to expect that she will become a victim of Lukashenko’s foreign agents.

That is a realistic concern, one only has to think of the brutality with which the dictator of Belarus forced a European plane to land in Minsk on Whitsun in order to take an opposition politician off the plane and then silence him. The civil rights activist Tichanowskaja has urged the MEPs to advocate tough sanctions.

That is understandable, but not easy to implement.

So far, a clear line

After all, Europe has so far taken a clear line with regard to Belarus. One of the amazing side effects of Alexander Lukashenko’s provocations is that Europeans are united as seldom before. It is otherwise difficult for them to speak with one voice when it comes to foreign policy.

It is different with Belarus – decisions were taken quickly and unanimously. Not even Victor Orbán took a stand, although the Hungarian prime minister liked to rave about Lukashenko’s leadership and even counted him among his own circle of friends.

Instead, there is now unity in the EU and there are some measures that allow the contours of a European handwriting to be recognized. The first sanctions are taking effect against the Belarusian airline and also against several other airlines that have been involved in smuggling refugees into Belarus.

Trading continues

But that is only half the truth. When it comes to business contacts and making money, Europe has less fear of contact with the dictatorship in the east. Tichanovskaya put his finger in the wound and openly addressed it.

The numbers prove her right. The volume of trade between the EU and Belarus did not decrease in the first eight months of this year. On the contrary, it has still grown. In the middle of the worst government terrorism in Belarus.

During that time, Germany also imported more goods from the country than in previous years, and more than 150 German companies have invested in Belarus. This flushes money into the dictator’s coffers and undoubtedly also secures his otherwise shaky position of power.

The EU shies away from simply cutting off these economic contacts and imposing sanctions on them. For legal reasons, of course, but also for a human reason, as strange as that may sound in this context. After all, what would be gained if many people in Belarus were left unemployed and plunged into existential difficulties by freezing all economic contacts? EU diplomats warn against this, again unanimously.

The EU has not yet exhausted its options

So what can the EU do? What would really affect Lukashenko’s regime without causing further harm to the already suffering population? Not much. But at one point the EU could still tighten the screws. It could extend personal sanctions against those responsible for election fraud and terrorism.

So far, only 166 representatives of the regime are on the sanctions list, people from the Lukashenko area. Tichanovskaya demands that at least 4,000 officials be punished – entry bans into the EU and freezing of Western accounts would be a sign that would show the opposition in Belarus that it is not alone, Europe is by its side.