German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas threatened the regime of the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko with new sanctions in the event that the situation in the country does not change. The portal Dtoday.de reported about it.
The politician stressed that the countries European Union will expand restrictive measures if the Belarusian government continues ” rely on sticks instead of honest national dialogue. ” He reiterated that Germany and its European partners are strongly opposed to the human rights violations that took place in the post-election protests in Belarus.
On November 23, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus announced the expansion of sanctions against the EU.
The European Union introduced sanctions against 40 Belarusian officials on October 2. President of the country Alexander Lukashenko was not included in the initial list, the sanctions were imposed against him November 6. They also touched upon 14 Belarusian officials. Their assets will be frozen, and they will be banned from entering the EU.
In Belarus, for the fourth month, mass protests continue, which began after the presidential elections on August 9. Lukashenka, who ran for a sixth term, received 80 percent of the vote, according to official results.