In what Belarus’s Foreign Minister Vladimir Makeil called “new iron curtains,” yesterday, the United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union announced a new round of sanctions against Belarus, the third this year, to punish it for “disregard for international norms,” and particularly, as U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken put it in a Dec. 2 statement, for its “callous exploitation of vulnerable migrants from other countries in order to orchestrate migrant smuggling along its border with EU states.” Speaking at the OSCE Ministerial Council the same day, Foreign Minister Makeil said the sanctions reflected a new “Fortress Europe” mentality. His ministry warned in an official statement that “we will take tough and asymmetrical though adequate measures” in response. “The harmful nature and futility of sanctions has long been clear to all sensible people, as well as their negative impact on both parties,” TASS quoted him as saying. (https://tass.com/world/1370165)
Blinken resorted to his usual sanctimonious rhetoric in announcing the U.S. sanctions and welcoming those announced simultaneously by “our allies and partners.” He vowed that the sanctions will “raise the cost on Alyaksandr Lukashenka [sic] and his regime for their ongoing attacks on democracy, human rights, international norms and for their brutal repression of Belarusians both inside and outside the country.” As part of the package, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreigh Assets Control sanctioned 20 individuals and 12 entities “that have enabled the regime’s migrant smuggling into the European Union, have taken part in the ongoing crackdown on human rights and democracy, and have propped up the regime financially.” The entities include the Belarusian Potash Company, Slavkali, Beltechexport, Transaviaexport, and other companies. Also sanctioned is Lukashenko’s son, Dmitry Lukashenko, and also various law enforcement officials. (https://www.state.gov/accountability-for-the-lukashenka-regimes-continued-acts-of-repression-and-disregard-for-international-norms/)
