The UK has hit the rogue state of Belarus with economic sanctions on the one-year anniversary of a ‘fraudulent’ election.
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has announced restrictions on trade and financial dealings with Belarus, which were first imposed in June in unison with the EU, US and Canada, are to be tightened.
An arms embargo on the eastern European country will also be strengthened, as well as further restrictions on President Alexander Lukashenko’s fleet of luxury jets entering UK airspace or being serviced by domestic firms.
He first came to power in 1994 following the collapse of the Soviet Union and was returned to power in a 2020 election which international observers say was rigged.
The result triggered mass protests and well-documented police brutality against opposition demonstrators.
At the time, Mr Raab said ‘the UK does not accept the result’ and Mr Lukashenko is not recognised as the legitimate president of Belarus by the European Union.
The BBC reported that, when asked about the sanctions during his annual press conference on Monday, President Lukashenko said Britain ‘can choke on’ them, describing the UK as ‘lapdogs’ of America.
The sanctions are also in retaliation for the detention of opposition journalist Roman Protasevich and his partner Sofia Sapega.
They were traveling on a Ryanair flight between Greece and Lithuania in May when it was grounded in Belarus. Western security agencies accused the Lukashenko regime of engineering a bomb scare as a pretext for the plane to land.
As of June, the pair were under house arrest and it’s widely believed taped confessions broadcast on state television were made under duress.
Last week, Belarusian Olympic sprinter Krystina Tsimanouskaya sought diplomatic protection in Poland after accusing coaches of trying to force her back to Belarus.
After criticising Belarusian athletics officials, she says she was driven to the airport against her will but managed to resist being put on a plane back to Minsk.
The Foreign Office says the sanctions are ‘carefully targeted to build pressure on Lukashenko, state institutions and those around him to change behaviour, while minimising, as far as possible, any unintended consequences on the wider population in Belarus’.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement: ‘These sanctions demonstrate that the U.K. will not accept Lukashenko’s actions since the fraudulent election.
‘The products of Lukashenko’s state-owned industries will not be sold in the U.K., and our aerospace companies will not touch his fleet of luxury aircraft.’
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