US to extend economic sanctions against Belarus
- 30.04.2008, 18:07
Political prisoners in Belarus are of greater importance for the United States of America than the number of American diplomats in the country, Jonathan Moore, US Chargé d’Affaires, said today on the press conference in Minsk. Mr Moore has been handed today a list of the US diplomats announced non grata persons. According to the American diplomat, if the political prisoners are not released, the US may extend economic sanctions against Belarus.
As the US diplomat thinks the previously imposed economic sanctions will remain in force until there are political prisoners in Belarus. Mr J. Moore gave a positive reply to a question whether extending of sanctions can be expected, if political prisoners Alyaksandr Kazulin, entrepreneur Syarhei Parsyukevich and youth activist Andrei Kim are not released.
Jonathan Moore declared he didn’t know when the sanctions could be extended, and against which Belarusian enterprises they could be imposed, as that decision was taken by Washington. However, he noted it would happen soon.
The Chargé d’Affaires reminded that the main sanctions had been coordinated by the US and the European Union, they concerned travel restrictions for Belarusian officials and their accounts freezing.
Later the US extended sanctions and froze Mr Lukashenka’s accounts by blocking the work of owned by him Belneftekhim company. The sanctions were effective as the US had expected. Though the Belneftekhim production might be re-oriented from the American market to other countries, the results of the sanctions were successful, judging from statements by the Belarusian authorities addressing the US ambassador.
Moreover, the diplomat admitted that the American business in Belarus faced the consequences of the current US-Belarus relations. According to the Chargé d’Affaires business both in Belarus and the United States will suffer if sanctions are further extended.
Now the US Embassy in Belarus is set to reduce its staff from 10 to 4-5 diplomats.
US Chargé d’Affaires Jonathan Moore said that as the first reaction to requests to leave only 5 diplomats in Belarus he answered the US do not want to do so. As a result, today the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus has handed him a list of 10 diplomats named non grata persons which means they are to leave Belarus within 72 hours. According to Vienna Convention the US will do all possible for the diplomats to leave the country within that term.
Chargé Jonathan Moore called actions of the Belarusian regime “unprecedented”. As said by the diplomat, some people in Belarus do not understand what the work of the US Embassy is. Over the recent 17 years the US had given humanitarian aid to Belarus for a sum of more than 270 mln dollars. More than 90,000 visas to Belarusian citizens had been issued. Financial aid had been made in more than 1,000 cultural and educational projects. More than 600,000 Belarusian schoolchildren had taken part in programmes organized by the Embassy, Mr. Moore informed. These are the reasons the US should work in Belarus, and these tasks would be more difficult to fulfill now, he said.
As said by him, decline in number of our diplomats to 5 persons or less would make the Embassy’s work even more difficult. In particular, even now consular aid is provided only in exceptional cases. Belarusian citizens are recommended to go to neighbouring states for such assistance, for instance, to Moscow, Chargé Jonathan Moore said.
The US diplomat has also made a statement concerning American citizen Emanuel Zeltser, a lawyer who remains in KGB prison in Belarus for a few months already. The US requested the Government of Belarus to release Emanuel Zeltser on humanitarian grounds in order to save the life of an American citizen.
As said by the diplomat, the US is extremely concerned for the health and safety of Mr. Zeltser. Since his detention on March 12, the U.S. Embassy in Minsk has only been permitted to visit him on two occasions, March 27 and April 25. During the visit on April 25, the consular officer from the US Embassy noticed a significant physical deterioration of Mr. Zeltser’s health since the previous visit on March 27. Mr. Zeltser lost a considerable amount of weight and was very weak. Mr. Zeltser has not been permitted to take his required daily medications, which may be causing irreversible internal damage.