BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

22/11/2006

EU Said To Have Never Mulled Politically Motivated Economic Sanctions Against Belarus

Ian Boag, head of the Kyiv-based Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine and Belarus, told journalists in Minsk on November 21 that the European Union has never considered imposing politically motivated economic sanctions against Belarus, Belapan reported. Boag was commenting on discussions earlier this year in the European Commission to temporarily suspend benefits for Belarus under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) (see "RFE/RL Newsline," September 27, 2006). Those discussions were terminated after some EU members spoke against such a measure. According to Boag, one of the conditions for enjoying the GSP benefits is the appropriate treatment of trade unions and their rights. "If those matters are not correctly treated, the GSP benefits can be temporarily withdrawn.... But this is a purely objective judgment; it is not a political judgment. It is not an economic sanction based on a political judgment," he argued. Boag visited Minsk to officially present the EU's offer of economic and other incentives to Belarus in exchange for progress toward democratization (see "RFE/RL Newsline," November 21, 2006). JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2006/11/3-cee/cee-221106.asp