EU presidency considering additional sanctions on Belarus

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
1 Nov 2022 14:10

More sanctions against Russian allies are on their way.

The Czech Republic's Prime Minister, Petr Fiala.

The Czech Republic is considering implementing more sanctions on Belarus for its stance with Russia with respect to the war n Ukraine. Prague holds authority over the rotating EU presidency.

In mid-October, Russia and Belarus kicked off a mission aimed at protecting the Union State of both countries, with Minsk authorizing Russian troops to use its land to launch operations in Ukraine. Minsk has, nonetheless, insisted that it does not plan to join the war directly.

"We are now looking at... the role of Belarus and the potential need to target it," said Petr Fiala, Czech prime minister. "Certain sanctions against Belarus are already in place, but we can't have Belarus joining Russia's policy or Russia avoiding the impact of sanctions through countries such as Belarus," he added.

"We must realize that the attacks on Ukraine are led out of the Belarusian airspace and that Belarus supplies weapons to Russia," said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky.

Since February 24, Belarus has dealt with a number of sanctions from European countries. In July, Britain announced economic, trade, and transport sanctions against Belarus for its alliance with Russia.

Import and export prohibitions on products worth around 60 million pounds ($73 million) were included in the Belarus sanctions package, including exports of oil refining goods, advanced technology components, and luxury goods, as well as purchases of Belarusian iron and steel.

In addition, more Belarusian enterprises were barred from raising debt and securities in London.