EU’s top diplomat says sanctions on Belarus’ potash no cause of Africa’s problems

June 20, BPN. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said African nations’ problems with imports of Belarusian potash fertilizers are unrelated to the EU’s sanctions on Minsk

He told a press conference in Luxembourg on June 20 that some African nations import even more Belarusian potash than before. “Some African countries have been increasing, and others decreasing. The problem should not be blamed on our sanctions,” he said.

According to him, the EU monitors food and fertilizer deliveries to Africa to see if there’s really a problem and solve it.

In 2021, the EU, US, UK and Canada imposed sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilizers producer Belaruskali. In January 2022, Yara, a Norwegian chemical company, suspended cooperation with Belaruskali because of the Western sanctions. On February 1, Lithuania halted shipments of Belarusian potash fertilizers through the Port of Klaipėda.

The authorities in Minsk tend to argue that sectoral sanctions, including on potash, should be lifted in light of the expected increase in the world’s famine levels. In particular, they suggested that they could allow Ukrainian grain to pass through Belarus in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.