EU may consider reintroducing sanctions if no progress in conduct of elections is seen, politician warns

If the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) sees no real progress in the way elections are conducted in Belarus, the European Union may consider reintroducing sanctions against Belarusian authorities, Joseph Daul, president of the European People’s Party (EPP), said at a conference in Minsk on September 2, the second day of his visit to the Belarusian capital.

The politician noted that Minsk had implemented only three of the recommendations made by the OSCE/ODIHR after the 2015 presidential election, which he said is not enough.

Mr. Daul warned that the EPP group in the European Parliament was ready to resume pressure on the Belarusian government if necessary.

He acknowledged that sanctions alone could not prove effective in democratizing Belarus, and described himself as an advocate of dialogue. At the same time, Mr. Daul noted that he was ready to use dialogue to criticize the Belarusian government.