EU extends sanctions against Belarus by one year

February 27, BPN. The European Council has ruled to extend sanctions against Belarus until February 28, 2024, according to the Official Journal of the European Union.

“Considering the persistent gravity of the situation in Belarus and the involvement of Belarus in the illegal aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, it is appropriate to maintain in force all the measures adopted by the Union,” the report stressed.

The EU also amended the details of sanctioned individuals and companies.

Last week, the European Council’s permanent representatives agreed on sanctions extension, a visa ban and an asset freeze of 195 people and 34 companies from Belarus, including Alaksandr Łukašenka and his inner circle, reports from Brussels said.

Since October 2022, the EU adopted six sanctions packages against Belarus over human rights abuses. Earlier, sanctions had been introduced over allegations of vote rigging in the 2020 presidential election, the forced landing of the Ryanair flight in Minsk, the artificially engineered migrant crisis and the country’s complicity in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.