Due to the increased violation of human and civil rights, the EU's relationship with Belarus has been rather difficult in the past decades. Between 2014-2020, relations had initially improved, as Belarus moved somewhat closer to the West after the annexation of Crimea. However, this harmonization was mainly limited to economic aspects. Unfortunately, the human rights situation in Belarus has not changed, and especially with the repression and waves of arrests that followed the 2020 election, the country turned away from the West again and chose to align itself with Russia.

Since the elections in Belarus in the summer of 2020 were neither free nor fair, the EU no longer recognizes Lukashenko as a legitimate president and has largely restricted cooperation with Belarusian state power. For example, the European Parliament no longer maintains official relations with the Belarusian Parliament. Instead, the EU maintains close contact with the country's democratic forces as well as with independent and non-governmental organizations.

For the EU, Belarus represents an obstacle on the way to a stable and cooperative pan-European area. Therefore, the EU is trying to weaken the state through sanctions and thus force it to give in. This effect has so far failed to materialize, as Russia is providing (financial) support to Belarus and weakening EU sanctions. Consequently, the EU has tightened its sanctions especially after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which is supported by Belarus. To have a greater impact, even more sanctions would have to be adopted. However, this project is currently failing due to disagreements between the EU member states.

The Belarusian authorities reacted to the sanctions with countermeasures, suspending its participation in the Eastern Partnership in June 2021. Moreover, Belarus tried to put pressure on the EU by instrumentalizing refugees. The targeted forwarding of refugees to the borders of Lithuania, Poland and Latvia is strongly condemned by the EU. Even if the number of illegal entrants has decreased, the situation at the borders is still critical.

The situation between Belarus and the EU is very tense and there is an urgent need to draft a new strategy for dealing with Belarus and Lukashenko, but also to draft a joint strategy for Russia and Belarus.