EU Firms up Belarus Blacklist as OSCE Offers to Mediate

People gesture during a protest at the Independence Square in Minsk on Aug. 27, 2020. Sergei Grits/AP

BERLIN—The European Union has agreed to impose sanctions on up to 20 senior Belarus officials suspected of election fraud and the crackdown on protesters and is likely to put President Alexander Lukashenko on its list at some point, the bloc’s foreign ministers said Friday at a meeting in Berlin.

In Vienna, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe offered to mediate between the two sides in Belarus, with chairman Edi Rama pledging not to “interfere in internal affairs,” but at the same time stressing human rights abuses must end.

A girl covers with an old Belarusian National flag as people stand near the place where Alexander Taraikovsky died amid the clashes protesting the election results, in Minsk, on Aug. 24, 2020. Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo

Belarus’ authoritarian president of 26 years has faced weeks of protests since he was reelected to a sixth term on Aug. 9 with 80 percent of the vote. The opposition says the poll was rigged and the EU, among others, disputes the results.

In the first four days of demonstrations that followed, Belarus security forces detained almost 7,000 people and injured hundreds with rubber bullets, stun grenades, and clubs. At least three protesters died. Around 180 people were detained at rallies on Thursday.

“We have general agreement on how the list will be structured and who will be, more or less, on the list,” Czech Republic Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek told reporters. However, the technicalities involved in legally finalizing the list won’t be concluded for at least another week.

This image made from video shows Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko armed with a Kalashnikov-type rifle near the Palace of Independence in Minsk on Aug. 23, 2020. State TV and Radio Company of Belarus via AP Photo

Asked whether the Belarus president will be hit by a travel ban and asset freeze, Petricek said he believes that “Lukashenko should be on the list. The question is whether in the first stage, or a later stage if there is no progress.”

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said that Lukashenko should be on the list now, but he acknowledged that there may be “tactical reasons” to keep the Belarus leader off. Lithuania had tabled its own list of 118 officials.

Asked after the meeting whether Lukashenko would be targeted, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell declined to be specific, saying that “this information needs to be protected until the sanctions are legally adopted and in force.” He also said that evidence is still being gathered on why the officials should be listed, just in case they launch legal challenges against the sanctions.