EU foreign ministers to discuss further sanctions against Belarus
(RIA Novosti, May 23) – The European Union's Council of Foreign Ministers will discuss during its session on Monday additional sanctions against Belarus regarding the country's human rights record, a European diplomatic source said.
He said additional sanctions may expand a list of Belarusian officials banned from traveling within the EU member states.
The EU decided to discuss additional sanctions after a Belarusian court sentenced last week former presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov to five years in prison for organizing riots following the elections in Minsk last December.
Sannikov, a former deputy foreign minister and leader of Belarus' Christian Democratic Party, ran against "Europe's last dictator," Alexander Lukashenko, and was one of seven candidates detained after the December 19 polls, described by international observers as flawed.
The elections in Belarus saw incumbent President Lukashenko, who has ruled the country for more than 15 years, win a fourth term in office with almost 80 percent of the vote. More than 600 people were detained during large-scale protests that broke out in Minsk.
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