The foreign ministers of the EU member states have agreed to introduce new sanctions against Belarus. It is reported by Reuters with reference to two diplomats.
According to the agency, the decision to tighten the restrictions was made during a video conference. New sanctions against Belarus are slated to take effect in the coming weeks.
It is noted that they can affect not only high-ranking officials, but also entities that finance the country's President Alexander Lukashenko.
Earlier, ex-presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya called on the European Union to impose economic sanctions “on businesses associated with Lukashenka and the oligarchs close to him.”
On November 17, it was reported that Belarus would expand the sanctions lists against Canada and each of the EU countries as a mirror response.
On November 6, the EU imposed sanctions directly against Lukashenka and 14 other Belarusian officials. Their assets are frozen, they were banned from entering the European Union. In early October, the leaders of the EU countries imposed sanctions against 40 Belarusian officials, who, in their opinion, were involved in electoral fraud and human rights violations. Then Lukashenko was not included in the sanctions list.
Mass protests have continued in Belarus since August. The participants demand the resignation of Lukashenka, the holding of new elections and the punishment of the security officials responsible for the brutal dispersal of the demonstrators. The authorities believe that elements of external interference are visible in the situation.
