DISINFO: West deliberately provokes protests in Belarus through sanctions
SUMMARY
People of Belarus – someone wants to go out (protest) on the streets, but some do not want to. And what is (the West) doing with those who do not want to take to the streets? The West wants to drag them out onto the streets with the help of a sharp deterioration in their quality of life (through sanctions). For this purpose, they pose the problem of the collapse of the (economic) system.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Belarus. The leaders of the European Union and the United States are indeed preparing a new package of sanctions in connection with actions against demonstrators in Belarus. However, the restrictions will not be directed against the population of the country, the sanctions will affect only the top leadership of Belarus, which coordinates and commits violence against peaceful demonstrators.
"The Belarusian regime is not working for the best interests of the Belarusian people. The regime has used ill-gotten wealth to amass and maintain power, through a level of corruption that is all too apparent to those living inside Belarus, not to mention to the rest of the world. And now, after being clearly rejected by his own people, the ruler of Belarus is using violence to maintain his grip on power and relying upon – increasingly upon support from Moscow to prop him up," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun.
The EU Council is also working to impose personal sanctions against high-ranking Belarusian officials responsible for violence, repression and electoral fraud. This refers to the prohibition of Belarusian officials from entering the European Union and the freezing of their assets in the EU. "We are in the process of adopting sanctions for a substantial number of those responsible for violence, repression and falsification of election results. They are, right now, under examination of the Council working parties with a view to adoption as soon as possible" according to High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell. None of the countries of the European Union, nor the U.S., have anything to do with the mass protests in Belarus: rallies of thousands broke out after Aleksandr Lukashenko, who has ruled for 26 years, declared that he had “won a convincing victory” in the elections. The current protests in Belarus began on the evening of 9 August; to disperse the protesters, the security forces were using rubber bullets, flash grenades, tear gas, shockers and water cannons. On the day of voting, the centre of Minsk was blocked by security forces, whilst communications and the Internet were jammed in the city.