The European Union decided to maintain the status quo, extending for another year the old visa and economic sanctions imposed on Belarus, without limiting or reinforcing them.The Foreign Ministers of the Member States at a joint meeting explained their decision stating that not all Belarusian political prisoners are released, none of those released has been rehabilitated, and the situation with human rights, the rule of law and democratic principles hardly improved. The Council of the European Union decided to extend the current restrictive measures until 31 October 2013, leaving the possibility of further revision.

At the moment, the sanctions are enacted against 243 individuals, including Aliaksandr Lukashenka and his elder sons, and 32 companies belonging to Aliaksandr Lukashenka, or businessmen Yury Chyzh, Uladzimir Peftsiyeu and Anatol Tarnauski. They are not allowed to get European visas, and their assets in the EU are to be frozen.

The Council of the EU drew attention to the fact that the elections to the House of Representatives in Belarus were accompanied by repressions and turned out to be another missed opportunity for Belarus to campaign according to OSCE standards. The Council welcomed the release of Siarhei Kavalenka, and called on the Belarusian authorities to release and rehabilitate all political prisoners and to stop the pressure of civil society, the opposition and independent media, to resume the work of the OSCE Office in Minsk and to cooperate with the new UN rapporteur on human rights in Belarus.

In addition, the Council of the EU expressed its willingness to continue supporting civil society in Belarus and declared its readiness to start dialogue on visa regime facilitation with Belarus, despite the fact that Minsk has not yet responded to the proposals that were made in June last year.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton (left), commented on the decision of the Council to extend sanctions against Minsk:

“We want to see the release and rehabilitation of all political prisoners before our policy can be positively reassessed. We want to see a democratic Belarus, playing its full part. We are ready to support any positive developments, but also react to any further deterioration. We reiterate again that the choice is with the authorities of Belarus”.

Official Minsk: “The EU policy is not compatible with good neighbourly relations”

“Belarus will not succumb to pressure. We believe that the EU policy is not compatible with the good neighbourly relationships. Overcoming the existing differences can only be based on the movement of the parties towards each other”, said the Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Savinykh.

Belarus calls on the EU to abandon the “sanction-based thinking and put efforts into restoring the environment of mutual trust”.

“Belarus expresses its fundamental interest in a constructive and respectful dialogue with the EU and is ready to work together in this direction”, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

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