Last April the EU foreign ministers instituted a visa ban on more than thirty Belarusian officials who were believed to be involved in rigging the elections, suppressing freedom of speech and undermining democracy and freedom in Belarus. However, three months after the ban, it is clear that the latter is not really effective: Belarusian officials continue to travel around the continent. The EU bigwigs do not seem to notice.

At a press conference a few days ago, Alexander Zimovsky, the chief of Lukashenka’s media empire and one of the officials who had been banned from travelling to EU countries, boasted of his recent visit to Portugal, where he had taken part in the meeting of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The announcement of his visit caused a stir in the Belarusian diplomatic establishment. The German and the French embassies in Minsk (the former representing the EU in Belarus and the latter representing Portugal) carried out investigations.

The EBU has confirmed Zimovsky’s participation. There are two possible explanations for what happened: Zimovsky may have used a special invitation from an international organization (such as UNESCO or another UN organization) which can theoretically bypass the visa restriction. It is hard to argue, however, that the EBU is such an organization. As Radio Liberty reports, even if that was the case, Zimovsky would only have been allowed to visit their headquarters in Switzerland, but not the summit in an EU country.

A second explanation, given by the French ambassador in the same Radio Liberty interview, seems much more plausible: Zimovsky was smart enough not to apply for a visa in Minsk, where everyone knows him, but to do so in Moscow where, three months after the ban was imposed, the Portuguese Embassy does not have a list of the Belarusian officials who have been banned from travelling to Europe.

The EU hopes to freeze the assets of the Belarusian elites abroad. Will they do this in a similar way: first give them a warning, second have them come and pick it all up, and third, freeze the no longer existent assets?