Austria foreign minister Schallenberg commits to EU sanctions on Belarus

Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg on Wednesday spoke about Austria’s mediation role after he held a meeting with Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanowskaja. Condemning the Belarusian leader’s security forces’ brutal crackdown on the civilians on post-election protests, and more than 30,000 arbitrary arrests, Schallenberg said that the EU will discuss new sanctions at the next Foreign Ministers Council in May, according to Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung. "We're not looking the other way, we're staying committed," Schallenberg said, adding that the pressure on the Belarusian regime must be maintained and the civil society must be supported. This includes the contacts between NGOs, experts from the Venice Commission, and trips by young Belarusian artists to Austria, Austria’s Foreign Minister said. 

Furthermore, The Austrian Greens said in a statement issued later that Belarus must place a high level of trust in Austria's mediating role. ”We should take this important task [of sanctions] seriously," Green human rights spokeswoman Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic said. Belarusian opposition leader and the ex-presidential candidate Svetlana Tichanowskaja thanked the Austrian minister for standing in solidarity with Belarus and their determination to seek democratic change.

At a news conference, Schallenberg also said that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) should rightly mediate in the sanctions process as a retaliatory measure to the brutal and disproportionate use of coercive force by government law enforcement authorities against the ordinary protesting citizens. The Austrian minister, however, did not name whose names the EU would put on the sanctions list. 

'Ceasing cooperation' with Belarusian regime

The Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanowskaja was received by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen in the Hofburg for the meeting. “It is important to know how the people of Belarus are doing and under what terrible conditions critics of the regime are in custody,” Tichanowskaja said, expressing thanks to Austria for support. She added that the Austrian companies must immediately cease cooperation with the Belarusian regime. 

Tichanowskaja also met with Austria's Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz who stated that he was "impressed by the commitment of Svetlana Tichanovskaya and Belarusian civil society". 

"We fully support the efforts of the Belarusian opposition and civil society, especially Svetlana Tichanovskaya, for free and fair elections in Belarus. We will also coordinate closely with our partners in the EU.," Kurz said.

Speaking with the ORF radio, Schallenberg gave further details about the EU sanctions, saying that it would have to be targeted against those responsible for the violence against protesters, arbitrary detentions, and internet blockades. Earlier, Sweden’s foreign minister Ann Linde told the local broadcasters that the EU diplomats would draft a “high political level” list about who the sanctions will target which will gradually expand in the future.