Cichanoŭskaja suggests setting up task force to monitor sanctions enforcement

February 22, BPN. Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja has suggested setting up a European Union (EU) task force to monitor the enforcement of sanctions against Alaksandr Łukašenka’s regime.

“Sanctions against the regime must not have loopholes,” she told the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels on February 22.

“According to investigative journalists, Belarusian state-owned enterprise Hrodna Azot continues exporting its products to the EU despite sanctions. And it brings the great profit thanks to cheap gas from Russia. This is a direct payment from the EU to the regime for enabling the war,” she said.

Over the past few years, democratic nations have imposed multiple restrictions on Belarus over human rights violations. Sanctions have been imposed for alleged vote rigging in the 2020 presidential election, a brutal crackdown on protesters, the forced landing of a Ryanair flight, a migration crisis on the EU border, and support of Russia’s war in Ukraine.