Given the depredations of the leader of Belarus, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko — the fraudulent election, the crackdown on opposition leaders, the beatings and arrests of peaceful protesters — the European Union seemed poised to respond quickly with economic sanctions, something more tangible than just words. officials, including Josep Borrell Fontelles, the foreign policy chief, have called the re-election of Mr. Lukashenko illegitimate, demanded a new vote and said that they no longer recognize him as president, despite his “inauguration” in a secret ceremony on Wednesday. But new sanctions on Mr. Lukashenko and some 40 of his cohorts are still in abeyance, nearly two months after the Aug. 9 election. The failure to act is more than an embarrassment — it undercuts European desires to be a forceful actor charting its own course in global affairs, on a par with the superpowers. It undermines European goals of “strategic autonomy,’’ independent of the United States, and it underscores Russian and Chinese contentions — let alone those of the Trump administration — that the European Union is weak, divided and incapable of effective and rapid strategic action.

Source: New York Times September 24, 2020 17:48 UTC