The European Union aims to impose economic sanctions on 31 senior Belarus officials including the country’s interior minister by mid-September, three EU diplomats said, in response to an August 9 election that the West says was rigged.
However, Greece and Cyprus – which are pushing for separate sanctions on Turkey in a dispute in the Eastern Mediterranean – still need to give their support to the Belarus blacklist, diplomats told Reuters.
All 27 EU countries must agree on such measures and Athens and Nicosia could use their support for the Belarus blacklist to obtain tough measures on Turkey, the diplomats also said.
Almost a month into mass demonstrations against the outcome of the contest, in which President Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory to prolong his 26-year-old rule, the EU aims to punish the government crackdown and support calls for fresh elections.
“We initially agreed on 14 names but many states felt that was not sufficient. We have now reached consensus on another 17,” one EU diplomat said. “These are senior officials responsible for the election, for violence and for the crackdown.”
EU foreign ministers gave their broad political approval for the sanctions – EU travel bans and asset freezes – at a meeting in Berlin late last month but did not decide who to target.
As repression continued against the opposition on Monday, the European Commission said EU sanctions would be imposed very soon, but did not give details.
“There is the political will and determination to have (sanctions) concluded as soon as possible,” a spokesman for the EU executive told a news briefing. “It’s not a question of whether, only when.”
Names could still be added or taken off the list, but the diplomats said formal agreement is likely to come on September 21, when EU foreign ministers hold their next scheduled meeting. The sanctions coming into effect on September 22.
ISLAMABAD: EU Ambassador to Pakistan Androulla Kaminara Sunday said the European Union fully backed Pakistan’s efforts to overcome the socio-economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and build back better for a more sustainable future.“The COVID-19 has shaken the world unexpectedly and we will continue to feel the socio-economic consequences of the virus for quite a long-time. Showing solidarity with each other during the trying times is the responsibility of all of us,” she said.
She said it was an unprecedented challenge, but Pakistan had so far managed the crisis very well. “The data from the WHO (World Health Organisation), which I have followed closely over the past few months, suggests that COVID-19 cases and deaths are on a steep decline in Pakistan.
At the peak of the daily infections in mid-June there were over 6,000 new infections per day and for most of August this has been reduced to about 500 new infections or lower per day. “It was heartening that the Pakistan government’s measures such as smart lockdowns as well as testing and tracing had helped slow down the spread of virus considerably, Androulla Kaminara remarked.
ISLAMABAD: EU Ambassador to Pakistan Androulla Kaminara Sunday said the European Union fully backed Pakistan’s efforts to overcome the socio-economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and build back better for a more sustainable future.
“The COVID-19 has shaken the world unexpectedly and we will continue to feel the socio-economic consequences of the virus for quite a long-time. Showing solidarity with each other during the trying times is the responsibility of all of us,” she said.
She said it was an unprecedented challenge, but Pakistan had so far managed the crisis very well. “The data from the WHO (World Health Organisation), which I have followed closely over the past few months, suggests that COVID-19 cases and deaths are on a steep decline in Pakistan.
At the peak of the daily infections in mid-June there were over 6,000 new infections per day and for most of August this has been reduced to about 500 new infections or lower per day. “It was heartening that the Pakistan government’s measures such as smart lockdowns as well as testing and tracing had helped slow down the spread of virus considerably, Androulla Kaminara remarked.
The government, she said, had taken a number of positive initiatives to stimulate the economy during the difficult time and also to help those segments of the population, which had been particularly affected by the pandemic.
One example was the expansion of the Ehsaas Programme to cover approximately 23 million households, she added. As regards the Pak-EU relations, Ambassador Kaminara said the European Union had been an honest and longstanding partner and friend to Pakistan.
Britain demanded “more realism” from the European Union Monday ahead of crucial post-Brexit trade talks, but the mood was soured by reports that London was looking to rewrite an agreement the two sides had already signed.
In this file photo taken on March 28, 2018 An anti-Brexit demonstrator waves a Union flag alongside a European Union flag outside the Houses of Parliament in London. (Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief negotiator, David Frost, said “we must make progress this week” if an agreement is to be reached by the end of a post-Brexit transition period in December.
For that, “we need to see more realism from the EU about our status as an independent country”, he said ahead of Tuesday’s talks with the EU’s Michel Barnier in London.
“If they can’t do that in the very limited time we have left, then we will be trading on terms like those the EU has with Australia, and we are ramping up our preparations for the end of the year.”
Talks have been deadlocked for months over issues such as the extent of EU access to UK fishing waters, state aid and fair competition rules. Both sides say a deal must be agreed by a mid-October EU summit.
But there was concern in Brussels on Monday after the Financial Times reported Johnson planned to legislate to override parts of the Withdrawal Agreement struck before Britain left the EU in January.
“Everything that has been signed must be respected,” Barnier warned, saying he would discuss it with Frost.
The FT said legislation to be put before UK parliament this week would undermine agreements relating to Northern Ireland customs and state aid.
Under the protocol, Northern Ireland, which will have Britain’s only land border with the EU, will follow some of the bloc’s rules to ensure the frontier remains open.
Eliminating border checks with the Republic of Ireland was a key part of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which ended 30 years of violence over British rule in the province.
“I trust the British government to implement the Withdrawal Agreement, an obligation under international law and prerequisite for any future partnership,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said.
Johnson’s spokesman said the UK government was “fully committed to implementing the Withdrawal Agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol, and we have already taken many practical steps to do”.
But he said it was taking “limited and reasonable steps to clarify specific elements” of the protocol in UK law, to “remove any ambiguity”.
The report provoked an angry backlash in Dublin and Belfast, where the prospect of a potential “hard border” is a reminder of “The Troubles”.
“This would be a very unwise way to proceed,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said in response to the FT report.
Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said the UK would show “total disregard for the lives and concern of the people of Ireland” if it backtracked on the Brexit deal.
Jitters were also felt on the currency market, where the pound slid against the dollar and euro on fears that the UK-EU talks would fail, severely disrupting trade ties.
‘Sabre-rattling’
Some analysts however suggested the row over Northern Ireland is a move by London to raise the pressure in the trade talks.
Ireland’s deputy prime minister Leo Varadkar said the increased rhetoric from London and Brussels was inevitable “sabre-rattling” and “posturing” as the deadline approached.
Johnson has said that failing to reach agreement would still be a “good outcome” for Britain, dubbing it an “Australia-style” deal.
However, Australia trades with the EU under World Trade Organization rules and tariffs, which would significant disruption to cross-Channel trade.
Britain formally left the 27-member bloc on January 31 but remains bound by EU rules until the end of December while it tries to thrash out new terms of its relationship.
FILE – In this Friday, June 5, 2020 file photo, European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier gives a news conference after Brexit talks, in Brussels, Belgium. The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator said Monday Sept. 7, 2020, he is going to seek “clarification” from his counterpart in the U.K. over reports that the British government may be planning to renege on commitments made ahead of its departure from the bloc earlier this year. (Yves Herman, Pool Photo via AP, File)
<p>LONDON (AP) — The U.K.’s chief negotiator in post-Brexit trade talks called for “more realism” from the European Union ahead of the start Tuesday of another round of discussions between the two sides.
With expectations of a breakthrough in the talks diminishing, there are concerns that they could collapse in the coming weeks. Though the U.K. left the bloc on Jan. 31, it is in a transition period that effectively sees it abide by EU rules until the end of this year. The two sides have been negotiating future trade ties over the past few months but progress has been minimal.
David Frost, the British government’s chief negotiator, said the two sides “can no longer afford to go over well-trodden ground” in the deadlocked talks and that the EU needs to show “more realism” about the U.K.’s status as an independent country. The EU side will be led by its long-time Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier.
“Today, I will sit down with Michel Barnier and drive home our clear message that we must make progress this week if we are to reach an agreement in time,” Frost said. “We have now been talking for six months.”
The trade discussions have made very little progress over the summer, with the two sides seemingly wide apart on several issues, notably on business regulations, the extent to which the U.K. can support certain industries and over the EU fishing fleet’s access to British waters.
Relations appeared to become further strained Monday following reports that Britain’s Conservative government was attempting to unilaterally ride roughshod over its divorce agreement with the EU that paved the way for the U.K.’s smooth departure earlier this year.
EU officials said any attempt to override the international treaty could jeopardize peace in Northern Ireland as well as undermine the chances of any trade deal.
The British government said the publication of planned legislation on Wednesday is intended to tie up some “loose ends” where there was a need for “legal certainty.” It said the Internal Market Bill will ensure goods from Northern Ireland, which is part of the EU, will continue to have unfettered access to the U.K. market, while making clear EU state aid rules, which will continue to apply in Northern Ireland, will not apply in the rest of the U.K.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said Britain could walk away from the talks within weeks and insists that a no-deal exit would be a “good outcome for the U.K.” He said in a statement that any agreement must be sealed by an EU summit scheduled for Oct. 15.
British businesses are worried about a collapse in the talks that could see tariffs and other impediments slapped on trade with the EU at the start of next year. Most economists think that the costs of a ‘no-deal’ outcome would fall disproportionately on the U.K.
Follow all AP stories about Brexit and British politics at https://apnews.com/hub/brexit.
Lampedusa, Italy – It is Saturday morning and Ahmed is squeezed onto a small Italian coastguard boat docked at one of Lampedusa’s ports.
There are about 30 other refugees and migrants on board.
Officers, covered head to toe in white protective gear, are on the ground, buzzing around the boat to prepare it for the next stop a few miles away – the Rhapsody ferry.
There, almost 800 refugees and migrants will enter a 14-day quarantine period.
Like Ahmed, they have been removed from the overcrowded reception centre in Lampedusa due to a lack of space, and now must undergo the two-week quarantine on board the ferry.
“Of course I am happy,” the 23-year-old told Al Jazeera by text message. “It’s always better than staying inside the centre.”
Saturday would have been his seventeenth day inside Lampedusa’s only reception centre, in Imbriacola district. A so-called “hotspot”, the centre has been the focus of a heated debate between the far right, governing political leaders and civil society.
It was built to house no more than 192 people, but last week there were as many as 1,500 as the number of migrants and refugees landing on the island’s shores rose during summer.
“They treat us like animals, I would say worse than animals,” said Ahmed, who arrived on August 19on a dinghy from the Tunisian town of Sfax. Each night, he and others used to sneak out just to get something to eat.
“Often there is no water or electricity, you sleep on the floor or on a dirty mattress, if you get one. There are no words to describe it … Some of them [staff] keep insulting us. I feel treated as we were terrorists,” he said.
What will happen to Ahmed once the ferry quarantine period ends?
Most Tunisians are considered economic migrants, and therefore are either returned to Tunisia – the Italian government established two charters for a total of 80 repatriations a week so far – or handed a seven to 30-day window period to return home by their own means. Often, once they arrive, they attempt to leave Italy in any way possible and reach northern Europe.
“I don’t care if they will send me back, I’ll come back again, and again, and again,” said Ahmed. “For me [it] is a question to either die or arrive.”
He is among 7,885 Tunisians who arrived in Sicily this year up to August 31 – a number almost six times higher than the same period last year.
As the coronavirus pandemic forced governments to shut their borders and halt activities, Tunisia is also paying a heavy price with its economy expected to shrink more than 4 percent this year, and the unemployment rate currently standing at 16 percent.
With Lampedusa’s hotspot overflowing and the threat of tourists being discouraged by the number of asylum seekers, far-right politicians are weaponising the pandemic in an attempt to advance anti-migrant policies.
On August 31, as more than 360 people were rescued at sea and brought to Lampedusa, a group of protesters – coordinated by a member of Matteo Salvini’s far-right party, the League – took to the port to stop their landing.
The previous week, Salvini praised Sicily’s Governor Nello Musumeci for ordering the closure of the region’s reception centres. Despite being immediately blocked by a court, the move greatly boosted the governor’s popularity.
In 2011, more than 50,000 Tunisians reached Lampedusa as they fled unrest in their country during the so-called Arab Spring [Antonio Parrinello/Reuters]
Lampedusa’s islanders are used to refugees and migrants landing on their shores. A southern tip of Europe, the island has for decades been the first point of entry to those crossing the Mediterranean.
In 2011, more than 50,000 Tunisians arrived.
“We welcomed them bringing warm food and helping setting tents across town,” recalled former fisherman Calogero Partinico, 63, sitting on a bench watching tourists, many walking around with no masks.
Like many others, Partinico has drawn a link between the rising number of refugees and migrants and the coronavirus pandemic, despite refugees making up 3-5 percent of COVID-19 cases in the country, compared with 25 percent detected among tourists, according to Italy’s National Health Institute.
“Islanders live with an ancestral fear over sickness – given the isolation and lack of hospitals on the island – and over the potential loss of the summer season,” said Marta Bernardini, an aid worker from Mediterranean Hope, a project of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy based in Lampedusa. “The coronavirus combined the two, fomenting a more hostile attitude towards migrants.”
There are also growing concerns over the use of ferry boats to quarantine migrants – an operation which has so far cost the government at least six million euros ($7.1m) for the rent of five vessels.
“No one wants them,” Lampedusa Mayor Toto’ Martello told Al Jazeera, pointing to some regional governors’ refusal to take in refugees and migrants. “Because since there is the COVID-19, there has been a media campaign against migrants saying that they are those bringing the virus.”
Further deepening Italy’s refugee crisis, the country’s reception’s capacity has recently been halved, said Sami Aidoudi, legal adviser and cultural mediator for the Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration (ASGI).
“Salvini’s security decrees cut funds, hence most services had been reduced,” he said, referring to the former prime minister’s 2018 anti-migrant policies.
Prior to those rulings, as an example, social services used to receive about 35 euros ($41) a day per migrant – an amount which has dropped to about 19 euros ($22). With the changes, some cooperatives were forced to close, while the quality of services fell at others.
Despite pledging for a substantial U-turn from Salvini’s hardline policy over migration, the current government has made few changes.
“They are starting to establish floating reception centres – the dream of the Italian right wing,” said Aidoudi.
Confining migrants to the sea, away from residents’ sight, “means absence of information for civil society, for those that can offer legal counselling and finally for migrants themselves”, he said. “We can’t assist them.”
The EU has voiced “serious concern and regret” over Belgrade’s commitment to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, casting a shadow over the resumption of Serbia-Kosovo talks.
President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti are to meet in Brussels for a second round of EU-brokered, face-to-face talks to resolve two decades of disputes after clashing in war.
The meeting follows a high-profile summit at the White House where Vucic and Hoti agreed to improve economic relations – and in Serbia’s case, following in the US’s footsteps, committing to moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
But the EU remains committed to the so-called “two state solution” in which Jerusalem will be the capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state, with its own diplomatic mission is in Tel Aviv.
The bloc expects prospective members such as Serbia to align with its foreign policy positions.
“In this context, any diplomatic steps that could call into question the EU’s common position on Jerusalem are a matter of serious concern and regret,” EU foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano told reporters in Brussels.
Breaking with long-standing diplomatic practice, US President Donald Trump’s administration in December 2017 recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the US embassy to the city.
‘Now, we shall have more powerful allies’
Washington touted the agreements signed by Vucic and Hoti on Friday as a major breakthrough, but on Monday the two leaders issued a joint statement giving a far more cautious read.
“The recently agreed documents in Washington DC, building on previous dialogue-related commitments undertaken by the two parties, could provide a useful contribution to reaching a comprehensive, legally binding agreement on normalisation of relations,” the statement said.
In one of Europe‘s most intractable disputes, Serbia has refused to recognise Kosovo’s declaration of independence since the province broke away in the bloody 1998-99 war that was ended only by a NATO bombing campaign against Serb troops.
Both Kosovo and Serbia are facing mounting pressure from the West to resolve the impasse which is seen as crucial to either side joining the EU.
One key question is diplomatic recognition for Kosovo – five of the EU’s 27 countries do not acknowledge its independence.
At a news conference in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital, President Hashim Thaci tried to calm the fears of Muslim nations that its decision to recognise Israel could damage ties with the Islamic world.
Thaci hailed the deal with Serbia signed at the White House in Washington, which included mutual recognition between Israel and Kosovo.
But he added that he had received messages of concern from the Arab League and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “regarding the mutual recognition of Israel-Kosovo”.
“I am in contact with President Erdogan. I spoke to him on the phone and this recognition of Kosovo-Israel will not jeopardise in any way the friendly and strategic partnership with Turkey. Now, we shall have more powerful allies (Israel) in our efforts to globally strengthen the state of Kosovo.”
Kosovo, a predominantly Muslim country, has never recognised Israel, nor has Israel recognised Kosovo.
Cyprus’ President, Nikos Anastasiades, had an extensive phone conversation with the Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday in view of the European Council meeting that will take place on September 24.
The meeting will discuss the illegal and provocative actions of Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean, Deputy Government Spokesman Panayiotis Sentonas said in a written statement.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is getting impatient with the European Union. His government suggests that there will be no trade deal at all with the EU if there is no trade deal by mid-October.
Although Britain formally left the EU in January, it has followed Brussels’ rules during a transition period. But those rules end in December – while discussions over a long-term trade agreement continue.
Brussels wants Britain to stick mainly to EU rules such as workers’ rights, environmental regulations, and state aid to businesses.
But Britain argues the whole point of Brexit was to break free from following standard rules.
The EU also demands ongoing access to British waters for fishing. But Britain says that’s not possible as it is now an independent coastal state. However, Britain still wants access to EU markets to sell its fish.
Another contentious issue is who will enforce any deal and the European Court of Justice’s future role. Amid the disagreements, British ministers are already preparing legislation that would override a crucial part of last year’s EU withdrawal agreement.
The move could change the nature of new Northern Ireland customs arrangements, which were intended to prevent the return of checks at the border with the Irish Republic.
Britain’s government said it was a standby plan in case trade talks fail. But the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has made clear the European Union won’t be intimidated by what critics view as Britain’s attempt to torpedo the agreement.
“A precise implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement is also the only way to avoid the hard border on the island of Ireland and preserve the all-island economy,” Barnier stressed.
“It is the only way tho preserve to the integrity of the single market and all its guarantees for consumer protection, public and animal health by ensuring all the necessary checks and controls for goods entering Northern Ireland. And of course, it is a precondition for us, the EU, and the UK to forge a meaningful partnership build on trust for the future,” the negotiator added. INDEPENDENT NATION
However, Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab suggested that the EU refuses to accept Britain as an independent nation.
He warned that Britain isn’t afraid to exit the EU without a special trade deal. “We’ve actually got the issues boiled down to two outstanding bones of contention,” he told reporters. “There is a good deal there for the EU; we’d love to do that free trade agreement – and if not, we’ll fall back on Australian-style rules,” Raab added.
“I think this week is an important moment for the EU to really effectively recognize that those two points of principles are not something we can just haggle away- They are the very reasons we are leaving the EU,” he explained.
“But we want a positive relationship and the arm of friendship and goodwill is extended,” the top diplomat stressed. “It is up to the EU to decide whether they want to reciprocate.”
