MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : GERMANY ? JUST WORDS ! AS USUAL !

Top of the Agenda – Canada, UK Sanction Belarusian Officials
Canada and the United Kingdom imposed sanctions (DW) on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, his son, and six high-level officials, intensifying the international backlash over Belarus’s disputed presidential election. The countries cited both the election and the subsequent crackdown on dissent for the sanctions.

Earlier yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron met with Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and pledged to help mediate (BBC) to release political prisoners and ensure a “peaceful transition.” Lukashenko has faced international criticism since the contested election, with the United States and the European Union also considering penalties (WSJ) against his government. Nonetheless, he retains an ally in Russian President Vladimir Putin, who rebuked international pressure on Belarus.

 

Analysis
“Sanctions undoubtedly apply more pressure on Lukashenko than statements alone. And rooting them in Belarusian authorities’ human-rights violations, as the U.K. has, makes them harder to unpick for Lukashenko,” Yasmeen Serhan writes for the Atlantic.

“Targeting the assets and/or travel of Lukashenko and his circle would be more symbolic than substantive. This is not a group that’s deeply dependent on the outside world,” Tim Lister writes for CNN.