US President Joe Biden said the United States is levying new sanctions against Belarus. It marked the one-year anniversary of Alexander Lukashenko’s election. President Biden said in an election campaign that the US and the international community have been fraught with irregularities. The White House announced the sanctions and pointed out the forced landing of a European airliner traveling through Belarus’ airspace in order to arrest a prominent opposition journalist aboard. The Treasury Department cites in the new sanctions is Belaruskali OAO. It is one of Belarus’s largest state-owned enterprises and a source of wealth for the regime; the Belarusian National Olympic Committee; and 15 private companies, including the prominent Belarusian bank Absolutbank, that have ties to the Lukashenko regime.
The Belarus Olympic committee alleged facilitating money laundering, sanctions evasion, and the circumvention of visa bans. The International Olympic Committee has also reprimanded it for its failure to protect Belarusian athletes from political discrimination and repression. President Biden issued a statement and said, “It is the responsibility of all those who care about human rights, free and fair elections, and freedom of expression to stand against this oppression. The United States will continue to stand up for human rights and free expression, while holding the Lukashenka regime accountable, in concert with our allies and partners”. The White House sanctions came as Britain announced new measures meant to target trade with Belarusian state-owned companies, government finance, and aviation.
Moreover, the British sanctions also restrict trade in potash, oil products, interception, and monitoring technology and goods used in cigarette manufacturing. British investors are barred from buying securities issued by the Belarusian state or providing insurance and reinsurance to Belarusian state bodies. Lukashenko issued his annual press conference and said, “You in Britain can choke on these sanctions”. Lukashenko was awarded a 6th term leading the Eastern European nation last year in a vote that the opposition and many in the West view as fraudulent. The widespread belief that the vote was stolen triggered mass protests in Belarus that led to increased repressions by Lukashenko’s regime on protesters, dissidents, and independent media. At least 35,000 people were arrested and thousands were beaten and jailed.