There is a lot they could do but the question is what they are willing to do. Right now they only appear willing to "object loudly" which they know will accomplish nothing.
If they really want to get this guy released and set a deterring precedent they would start playing hardball, which could include things like:
* Deny Belarus aircraft the right transit anywhere in the EU.
* Do so while some Belarus aircraft are on the ground in the EU and don't allow them to leave. This effectively holds those planes hostage as a bargaining chip, though it's really leverage on the Belarus airlines (and the planes themselves are probably leased). But it still creates problems for the regime.
* Refuse to allow the transit of any Belarus top officials anywhere in the EU. Start expanding this list daily to include more people and their direct families and make the directive permanent until the guy is released. Once you get the spouses of a couple dozen of the top people in the regime contemplating spending the rest of their lives without Italian vacations or Parisian shopping - much less just being able to go anywhere other than Russia - you're starting to cause some hard conversations about how much making an example of this guy is really worth.
Sadly, I doubt the EU will do any of this type of stuff but barring that, there's really no incremental cost to Belarus, nothing will happen and this guy is screwed.
Restrictive measures include a travel ban and an asset freeze. The travel ban impedes those listed from entering or transiting through EU territories, while the asset freeze is used against the funds or economic resources of the listed persons. In addition, EU citizens and companies are forbidden from making funds available to the listed individuals and entities... Today's decision follows up on the agreement reached by the EU foreign affairs ministers at their video conference meeting on 19 November 2020. The sanctions will now apply with immediate effect... A second set of sanctions targeting Alexandr Lukashenko and 14 other officials was imposed on 6 November 2020.
I mean we can quibble about what constitutes "top officials" and the expansion is not daily - but it does exist and it is expanding.
>Sadly, I doubt the EU will do any of this type of stuff but barring that
Yes, nothing happened after another rigged elections, Apparently around 30000 people are still detained since August, since brutally stopped protests. Nothing will happen again, but Belarus should be declared as space not safe for air transit.
I mean, Russian-employed militants in eastern Ukraine downed a civilian airliner and Russia suffered no serious consequences. Russia just denied and obfuscated.
They've poisoned people with radioactive substances on NATO soil, without serious consequences. Just denials issued.
Putin keeps calling the west's bluff. Having a nuclear arsenal seems to let you do that.
If they really want to get this guy released and set a deterring precedent they would start playing hardball, which could include things like:
* Deny Belarus aircraft the right transit anywhere in the EU.
* Do so while some Belarus aircraft are on the ground in the EU and don't allow them to leave. This effectively holds those planes hostage as a bargaining chip, though it's really leverage on the Belarus airlines (and the planes themselves are probably leased). But it still creates problems for the regime.
* Refuse to allow the transit of any Belarus top officials anywhere in the EU. Start expanding this list daily to include more people and their direct families and make the directive permanent until the guy is released. Once you get the spouses of a couple dozen of the top people in the regime contemplating spending the rest of their lives without Italian vacations or Parisian shopping - much less just being able to go anywhere other than Russia - you're starting to cause some hard conversations about how much making an example of this guy is really worth.
Sadly, I doubt the EU will do any of this type of stuff but barring that, there's really no incremental cost to Belarus, nothing will happen and this guy is screwed.