Hungarian foreign minister favors sanctions against Minsk

Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi, whose country holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, said that he favored sanctions targeting Belarusian officials responsible for crackdown on political opponents in the wake of last month's presidential election.

"Personally, I would agree with sanctions," the news site EUbusiness.com quoted the minister as telling reporters in Budapest.

"I would support all sanctions which affect the political establishment of the country," he said. "Punishing the people, I'm less in favor of that."

He stressed that "a clear political message must be sent to Minsk, reflecting the EU common policy."

Mr. Martonyi did not spell out what kind of sanctions he had in mind.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt announced earlier this week that Alyaksandr Lukashenka and dozens of other Belarusian government officials would be banned from visiting the EU.

"We have to follow the logic of our previous policies," EUobserver quoted the minister as saying. "The last time, when we no longer had political prisoners, we took positive steps. Now we have many more prisoners and those who took part in the actions which took place and those who collaborated with them will inevitably come back on the [entry ban] list."

He was referring to the authorities' brutal crackdown on the opposition's December 19 street protest and the jailing of hundreds of demonstrators and prominent opposition figures.

Belarus News