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Head of pro-government trade union federation downplays EU`s sanctions

Leanid Kozik, head of the pro-government Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus (FTUB), has downplayed the European Union’s sanctions against Minsk, saying that they did not prevent the FTUB from cooperating actively with foreign partners and were “a source of pride rather than some worry.”

In a statement issued on March 27, Mr. Kozik said that “European officials” overestimated their importance by attempting to “intimidate” Belarusian officials and businesspeople with a travel ban and asset freeze. “The entire world is open to the Belarusians as regards to business contacts and foreign trips,” said Mr. Kozik. “I myself was placed on the first blacklist of the kind, and I say frankly that this is becoming a source of pride rather than some worry.”

The Federation continues to step up its international contacts with, among others, European trade unions, he said. “Moreover, the trade union federation and its members have started to receive letters of support and sympathy from our European colleagues after sanctions against our country were reinforced.”

At the end of the last week, the EU imposed sanctions on a further 12 Belarusian persons, including businessmen Yury Chyzh and Anatol Tsernawski, and 29 Belarusian entities to punish the Lukashenka regime for the repression of civil society and the political opposition.

“The trade union federation has repeatedly stated that the EU will not get anything with such absurd and short-sighted measures,” Mr. Kozik said in his statement.

“They [the EU foreign ministers] can hardly expect the Belarusians to support these sanctions,” he said. “Our people see that our country is gradually overcoming a crisis, with pay increasing little by little and additional social guarantees appearing. The head of state is taking every possible and necessary measure to increase the living standards of the Belarusians.”

Mr. Kozik suggested that the Belarusian foreign ministry should publish the names of the EU foreign ministers who had voted for the new sanctions. “Let their names go down in history. And time will come when their descendants will be ashamed of their actions,” he said. //BelaPAN