BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

08/03/2008

U.S. says Belarus tension a sign of sanctions' success

The United States says the Belarusian government's recall of its ambassador to Washington is a sign the former Soviet republic is feeling pressure from U.S. sanctions.

Despite a suggestion by the Belarusian Foreign Ministry on Friday that Washington also should recall its ambassador, the United States said Ambassador Karen Stewart will stay put for now in Minsk.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced the recall Friday in a protest over economic sanctions the U.S. imposed last year on Belarus and, individually, some of its officials. Ministry officials also told Stewart in a meeting with other ambassadors that she should go home.

The United States said Stewart has not been formally expelled and it is reviewing the situation.

The United States imposed sanctions last fall against Belarus' state-controlled oil-processing and chemicals company, Belneftekhim. The Treasury Department last year froze the company's assets and barred American companies from doing business with it.

Additionally, both the United States and the European Union have imposed personal travel sanctions on authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and several other top Belarusians, members of his inner circle. Washington also is punishing Belarusian authorities with financial sanctions in response to a crackdown on opposition and free media.

This week, the State Department issued guidance on the existing sanctions that would appear to sharpen their bite. The move appeared to provoke the response from Belarus.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Kramer says he believes the sanctions are working.

"I think that the combination of rising Russian energy prices and the sanctions that we have taken have created an environment that is more likely than not to produce the kind of changes that we want to see," he told The Associated Press. "The economic pressure has reached a point where the government in Minsk may decide they are better off engaging in reform in order to have better relations with the West."

Source:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-belarus8mar08,1,5334047.story?track=rss

Google