European Uniongovernments will impose sanctions on Friday on two Belarus businessmen and their companies over PresidentAlexander Lukashenko's treatment of dissidents, diplomats said.
EU foreign ministers meeting inBrusselsare expected to place asset freezes and travel bans on 12 people, including prominent businessmanYuri Chizh, in addition to more than 200 people already targeted by the EU.
European companies will also be banned from doing business with 29 entities inBelarus, EU diplomats said on Wednesday and Thursday. Many of these are owned by Chizh and another unnamed businessman hit by the sanctions.
Chizh, a personal friend of Lukashenko, owns companies with interests in oil products, construction, real estate, retail, beverages, restaurants, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.
"There is going to be a broadening of sanctions to an additional 12 persons and 29 entities on Friday," one EU diplomat said. Rising animosity between the EU andMinskthis year has been marked by tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions.
EU ministers will also condemn the use of the death penalty in the ex-Soviet state – the only European country still with capital punishment – following the recent execution of two men convicted for a fatalMinskme t ro bomb attack last year.
The bloc will hold out the threat of imposing sanctions on more businesses unlessMinskstarts freeing political prisoners.
Lukashenko has tolerated little dissent since he came to power in 1994, cracking down on public protests and jailing opposition leaders.
His re-election for a fourth term in 2010 sparked mass street protests in the country of 10 million people. That led to the arrest of several opposition candidates who ran against him.
Following that ballot, which western observers said was fraudulent, the EU reinstated a visa ban on Lukashenko and other officials.
DEBATING PRESSURE
Discussions over sanctions among the EU’s 27 members have been held up by disagreements over how far pressure should go, because some countries want to protect commercial links withBelarus.
A round of conomic sanctions, which must be approved unanimously in the EU, was postponed in February afterSloveniablocked the inclusion of Chizh.
Chizh will be included in Friday’s sanctions, EU diplomats said, as will several of his companies. But diplomats said a Franco-British attempt to target even more firms failed as a result of a compromise over Chizh.
Sanctions should come into force after a full list of targeted companies and people is made public on Saturday.
EU sanctions and condemnation of Lukashenko’s policies have helped keepMinskfirmly withinRussia’s sphere of influence, despite long-term disputes over natural gas supplies and transit. Russian politicians regardMinskas a buffer between their country and NATO.
The EU pressure may have little immediate impact on Lukashenko despite a deepening economic crisis inBelarus, analysts say.
"He views (sanctions) as a plot being orchestrated by …Warsaw,BrusselsandBerlinand theUnited Statesto remove him," saidMatthew Rojanskyof Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "So he is going to choose power preservation even at a significant economic cost to his own people."
