EU tightens Belarus sanctions
MINSK – The European Union has once again expanded asset freezes and travel bans on Belarusians linked to President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s regime.
The 27 EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg also for the first time decided to take measures against Belarusian companies.
The companies are arms maker Beltechexport, telecoms provider BT Telecommunications, and gambling company Sport-Pari, which all belong to the country’s second-richest man and economic adviser to Lukashenka, Vladimir Peftiev.
Four people, including Peftiev, were added to the blacklist of Belarusian individuals targeted by the EU over Minsk's crackdown on government opponents.
An arms embargo on Belarus and on "materials that might be used for internal repression" was also included in the measures.
The EU already has already slapped restrictive measures on close to 190 individuals. The list has been updated on numerous occasions throughout 2011 as a direct response to Minsk's postelection crackdown that last month alone saw three former presidential candidates jailed over their role in postelection protests.
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