MEP urging Minister Linkevičius on Schengen visa-ban to violent law informant officers of Belarus

2020-10-08 | Belarus

Members of the European Parliament Andrius Kubilius and Rasa Juknevičienė have addressed Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius, urging him to take initiative and ensure that Lithuania would impose visa-ban sanctions, barring the issuing of Schengen Zone visas to a whole list of regular officers and other individuals having participated or participating in the criminal violence against Belarus’ citizens.

“The continuing violence in Belarusian cities against peaceful protesters by police and other special services is a grave concern for all of us. We are convinced that such violence is criminal and the international community must evaluate it by the strictest means possible without delay because only this can halt the continuation of such crimes,” the letter’s author MEP A. Kubilius says, “This goal could be achieved if the sanctioned individuals lists included not just 40 or 120 leaders in the Belarussian police and other special services, but also a broad list (several or a dozen hundred) of regular officers and other individuals who directly perpetrated crimes on the streets. Human rights defenders in Belarus have already compiled lists of individuals perpetrating such crimes, these lists are regularly renewed, supplemented and verified.” The letter reminds that EU institutions have finally arranged a list of sanctions on officials in the Belarussian administration (40 individuals), although A. Lukashenko himself was not included in it.

“Understanding that it could be difficult to expect that at the EU level, a unanimous agreement will be achieved for at least such sanctions to be imposed on such a broad range of individuals, we are of the firm belief that under such circumstances, Lithuania can and must take the initiative independently and in doing so, set an example for the rest of Europe,” MEP R. Juknevičienė says, “The existing Schengen Zone rules and the legal provisions in Lithuania for the Magnitsky Sanctions (the Law on Foreigners’ Legal Status) could be the legal basis for such an initiative.”

The letter’s authors indicate that such individuals would lose the right of entry into Lithuanian territory. Based on the Schengen Information System (SIS II) regulation Nr. 1987/2006 Article 24 and Visa Information System (VIS) regulation Nr. 767/2009 Article 12, the relevant services in all Schengen Zone countries would be automatically notified of Lithuania making such a decision, if such individuals sought to receive a Schengen Zone visa, making the request to the consular services of countries other than Lithuania. Contingent on the creation of such “Lithuanian” sanctions, the MEPs propose that the minister address other fellow foreign ministers for Schengen Zone countries, urging other countries to also not issue such perpetrators visas.

While the other EU countries’ relevant services are not restricted by Lithuania’s decision to not issue visas, the members of the European Parliament are convinced that other EU countries would respect Lithuania’s decision.

Read the letter:

Dear Minister,

The continuing violence in Belarusian cities against peaceful protesters by police and other special services is a grave concern for all of us. We are convinced that such violence is criminal and the international community must evaluate it by the strictest means possible without delay because only this can halt the continuation of such crimes. We view positively the fact that the European Union’s institutions have finally arranged a sanctions list of senior Belarussian administration officials (40 individuals), albeit it is regretful that A. Lukashenko was not included in the list. We also view positively that Lithuania, together with the other Baltic States, announced a far longer list of individuals under sanctions (128 individuals), which includes a wider number of institutional heads who have perpetrated crimes.

However, we are concerned that with sanctions lists only including the heads of institutions and organisations, the main important goal will not be achieved of ensuring an immediate halt to the continuing violence on the streets of Belarussian cities and towns. This goal could be achieved if the sanctions lists would include a wide range of regular officers and other individuals who directly perpetrated crimes on the streets.

Human rights defenders in Belarus have already compiled lists of individuals perpetrating such crimes, these lists are regularly renewed, supplemented and verified. We are convinced that if in the near future, it is declared that these individuals will at the very least face visa-ban sanctions, this could have a significant impact on both these individuals and others’ further behaviour. It is likely that in such a case, it would be possible to ensure that most regular police and other special service officers would refuse to continue participating in criminal activities and fulfil the criminal commands of their leadership.

Understanding that it could be difficult to expect that at the EU level, a unanimous agreement will be achieved for at least such sanctions to be imposed on such a broad range of individuals, we are of the firm belief that under such circumstances, Lithuania can and must take the initiative independently and in doing so, set an example for the rest of Europe. We are convinced that the existing Schengen Zone rules and the legal provisions of the Magnitsky Sanctions (the Law on Foreigners’ Legal Status) allow Lithuania to unilaterally (or together with the other Baltic States) take the initiative and impose a national ban on issuing Schengen visas to the entire list of such individuals.

They would lose the right of entering Lithuanian territory. Based on the Schengen Information System (SIS II) regulation Nr. 1987/2006 Article 24 and Visa Information System (VIS) regulation Nr. 767/2009 Article 12, the relevant services in all Schengen Zone countries would be automatically notified of Lithuania making such a decision, if such individuals sought to receive a Schengen Zone visa, making the request to the consular services of countries other than Lithuania. Based on the rules of the Schengen Zone, the decision made in Lithuania to not issue visas to such individuals would not be mandatory to other Schengen Zone countries – if such individuals make the request, other countries will be able to issue them Schengen Zone visas even while being informed about Lithuania’s decision in regards to said individuals. However, we are convinced that the absolute majority of citizens and politicians in Schengen Zone countries, just like the citizens and politicians of Lithuania, are outraged and horrified by the crimes of the Lukashenko regime and are prepared to do everything for these crimes to finally be stopped.