New Zealand imposes sanctions on Lukašenka, military officials, defense entities

May 17, BPN. Belarusian authorities and the military are “enabling the illegal and unacceptable assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty,” said Nanaia Mahuta, New Zealand’s foreign minister, on May 16 announcing new sanctions against Belarus. 

Noting that “Belarusian territory has been used to launch attacks into Ukraine,” Mahuta condemned all those involved in helping Russia and called on Belarus to “immediately renounce their support” for the war.

Mahuta described sanctions as a “real pressure on those supporting Putin and his despicable actions in Ukraine.”

Twenty-seven Belarusian nationals are subject to New Zealand’s sanctions, including Aliaksandr Lukašenka, a number of military commanders and “defense entities which have supported the invasion of Ukraine.” Among the latter are the State Defense Industry Committee; the Russian-Belarusian IT company Synesis (registered in Russia’s Skolkovo Innovation Center); OKB TSP, a Belarusian defense entity that produces surface-to-air missiles; and Obaronnyja Initsyjatyvy, a manufacturer of air defense suites.

Last year, New Zealand suspended political, defense, and military cooperation with Belarus over allegation of vote rigging in the 2020 presidential election and in response to the government’s crackdown on protests. It urged Minsk to cooperate with the international community and respect human rights.

On April 6, Belarusian government approved the list of “foreign countries, carrying out unfriendly acts against Belarusian legal and/or natural persons,” that includes New Zealand.