EU to review ties with Belarus, mulls action over election crackdown

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Tuesday that the 27-nation bloc will hold a thorough review of its ties with Belarus, and is mulling action against those involved in the massive police election crackdown, or against officials who might have interfered with the vote.
 

“We will be assessing the Belarusian authorities' actions … and conducting an in-depth review of the EU's relations with Belarus,” Borrell said in a statement.

Borrell said the people of Belarus have shown they want change, but that “the elections were neither free nor fair,” and he called on the authorities in Minsk to begin a dialogue with all sectors or society to avoid further violence.

“This may include, inter alia, taking measures against those responsible for the observed violence, unjustified arrests, and falsification of election results,” he added.

In 2004, the EU slapped an arms embargo on Belarus and imposed sanctions on people it claims were linked to the disappearance of President Alexander Lukashenko's opponents.

Scores of other people and a number of organizations were hit with further measures in the years that followed, but most sanctions were eased in 2016 after Lukashenko released a group of political prisoners.