Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
U.S., EU, others sanctioning Belarus
State-run airline targeted over role in amassing migrants at Polish border
BRUSSELS — The United States, European Union, Britain and Canada slapped simultaneous sanctions Thursday on dozens of officials, organizations and companies in Belarus, with the EU taking aim at those accused of participating in a “hybrid attack” on the bloc using migrants.
The three countries and the 27-nation EU have targeted Belarus since President Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth term last year in an election that the West and other observers say was fraudulent and over the security crackdown on peaceful protesters that followed.
The U.S. State Department reported the U.S. Treasury has “identified three aircraft as blocked property and designated 32 individuals and entities, including Belarusian state-owned enterprises, government officials, and other persons, who support the regime and facilitate its repression.”
The EU, meanwhile, imposed travel bans and asset freezes on 17 more people, including senior border guard and military officials, government representatives and judges.
The measures also hit air carriers — including state carrier Belavia — and travel groups accused by the EU of helping to bring migrants to Belarus with the aim of helping them cross into the 27-country bloc, chiefly through Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
Britain said it had imposed sanctions “on eight Belarusian individuals responsible for repression and human rights violations.” It also froze the assets of OJSC Belaruskali, one of the world’s largest producers of potash fertilizer, which is a major source of revenue for the Belarus government.
The State Department said that “today’s actions demonstrate our unwavering determination to act in the face of a brutal regime that increasingly represses Belarusians, undermines the peace and security of Europe, and continues to abuse people seeking only to live in freedom.”
At least 8,000 migrants, many of them Iraqis, have entered the EU without authorization this year from Belarus. Lithuania and Poland declared a state of emergency at their borders to stop people crossing. Several people died, trapped in the Poland-Belarus border zone in sub-zero temperatures.
With that in mind, the EU targeted Belavia.
“Migrants wishing to cross the Union’s external border have been flying to Minsk on board flights operated by Belavia from a number of Middle Eastern countries, in particular Lebanon, UAE [United Arab Emirates] and Turkey,” the sanctions text said.
Belarus’ Foreign Ministry charged Thursday that the new sanctions aim to “economically stifle Belarus, make the life of Belarusians as hard as possible” and to destroy Belarus “as a sovereign, economically successful state.”
The ministry rejected allegations that the Belarusian government orchestrated the migrant crisis and blamed the EU for undermining “stability and security in our region.” In a statement, it called the EU “the initiator of the sanctions spiral and aggression” and promised “harsh, asymmetrical” measures in response.
Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, said it has linked Belarus’s main security service, the KGB, to fake accounts on its social media platforms that criticized Poland during the countries’ recent border standoff.
More than 40 Facebook accounts, five groups and four Instagram accounts posed as journalists and activists from the EU, particularly Poland and Lithuania, Meta announced Wednesday. The accounts posted criticism of Poland in English, Polish and Kurdish, including pictures and videos about Polish border guards allegedly violating migrants’ rights.
The accounts had little reach: Meta said less than 1,400 people joined one or more of these groups, and less than 200 people followed one or more of these Instagram accounts. The accounts have since been removed.
“Although the people behind it attempted to conceal their identities and coordination, our investigation found links to the Belarusian KGB,” Meta said.
Meta did not reveal its methodology for tying the accounts to the Belarusian intelligence agency.
Since Western intelligence agencies accused Russian hackers of using fake social media accounts to spread propaganda during the 2016 U.S. election, similar influence campaigns have become a common tool by other governments in the region.
Belarus and Russia’s security agencies are closely linked and often cooperate; the “KGB” name is a holdover from the Soviet Union, when the countries’ intelligence organs were under one umbrella.
To make the accounts more convincing, some used profile photos likely generated using artificial intelligence techniques, Meta said.
The company also said it removed 31 Facebook accounts, four Groups, two Facebook Events and four Instagram accounts that it believes originated in Poland and targeted Belarus and Iraq. Those allegedly fake accounts posed as migrants from the Middle East posting about the border crisis.
Meta did not link the accounts to a specific group.