International trade union IndustriALL defends Belarusian Steel Works employees; Tsikhanouskaya visits Finland conducting high-level talks; National Anti-Crisis Management calls on foreign banks to close the accounts of the state banks of Belarus
3 March 2021 | Voice of Belarus
International trade union demands workers’ rights’ protection
International trade union IndustriALL has demanded that the management of the Belarusian Steel Works stop persecuting workers and reinstate all those who were laid off. Otherwise IndustriALL will contact the plant’s key business partners who are linked to the union through global agreements. This can affect the plant’s supply chain.
IndustriALL is the largest trade union organization representing 50 million workers in 140 countries. The organization strongly condemns the ongoing violations of fundamental workers’ rights in Belarus and the repressions against trade union leaders and activists. IndustriALL has sent letters to Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Guy Ryder, the Director General of the International Labor Organization, to take all possible measures to end the persecution of independent trade unions in Belarus.
National Anti-Crisis Management calls on foreign banks to close the accounts of the state banks of Belarus
The National Anti-Crisis Management (NAM) sent letters to foreign banks Citibank, Raiffeisen, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank with a request to close the correspondent accounts of Belarusian state banks Belarusbank and Belinvestbank. Belarusbank and Belinvestbank are state-owned banks that serve the organizations that are responsible for election falsifications and persecution of peaceful civilians, namely the Central Election Committee, OMON riot police, Alfa security forces unit and some others. These organizations have already come under the sanctions of the EU countries, the USA and other countries. Foreign Citibank, Raiffeisen, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, in which correspondent accounts of Belarusian state banks are opened, will have to comply with the sanctions legislation.
For Belarusian state-owned banks, this means that they will not be able to conduct international transactions, and bank clients will not be able to make transfers, pay for purchases and trade operations abroad.
NAM is implementing this campaign within the framework of the “Belarusian Liberation Plan. Spring 2021”. This campaign is aimed at blocking the bank services for the organizations responsible for election falsifications, violence and persecution of peaceful Belarusians.
Results of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya’s visit to Finland
Source: Tsikhanouskaya.org
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is completing her four-day working visit to Finland. She met with Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö, Prime Minister Sanna Marin, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, OSCE PA Honorary President Ilkka Kanerva, former President Tarja Halonen and the representatives of the Finnish parliament. She spoke about the situation in Belarus, and also asked the state leadership to act as a mediator in solving the political crisis in Belarus.
Representatives of Finland made a statement that they would support the fourth package of EU sanctions, OSCE mediation on the issue of resolving the political crisis in Belarus, provide assistance to independent media and human rights activists, and reconsider cooperation with companies supporting the Lukashenko regime.
For more information on the events of 3 March 2021, please visit Infocenter Free Belarus 2020:
