Lithuanian Foreign Minister Arnoldas Pranzkavičius called the possible deadline for introducing new sanctions against Belarus, reports DELFI.
On Monday, November 15, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the European Union are planning to resolve the issue of new sanctions against Minsk due to the migration crisis arising at the border with Poland and Lithuania. The head of the diplomacy of the EU Jozep Borrel stated that the restrictions would affect air carriers, travel agencies and officials related to the delivery of migrants in Belarus.
According to Pranzkavyqius, in the primary list, which ministers will discuss are “about 30 subjects”. He added that sanctions take effect during the week.
On the eve, military exercises began in Latvia in connection with the migration crisis. “I asked to declare the beginning of military exercises in Latgale, so that our Belarusian colleagues, if you can call them, knew that it was not just like that,” said the Minister of Defense of the Republic.
Relations between Belarus and the West once again aggravated after the presidential elections, which took place in the country on August 9, 2020. According to official data, the current president, Alexander Lukashenko, scored 80 percent of the votes. Mass protests continued throughout the country for several months. They accelerate, and a number of opposition politicians and activists were arrested or fled abroad. The European Union introduced sanctions against Minsk three times.
The fourth sanction package was adopted after the incident with the Ryanair aircraft in May 2021. The aircraft was accidentally sat down due to a bomb message on board. Belarusian security forces detained two passengers: the former commands of the opposition telegram channel NEXTA and his girlfriend. The threat of the explosion was not confirmed.