EU’s Baltic states oppose Belarus embargo
focus |
RIGA — Moves to ban senior Belarussian officials from the EU over a crackdown on the opposition have the backing of the bloc’s ex-Soviet Baltic states, but they oppose calls for economic sanctions.
The 27-nation European Union is set Monday to slap a visa ban on high-ranking Belarussian officials held responsible for mass arrests after the ex-Soviet republic’s Dec. 19 presidential election.
“We support imposing visa restrictions for those responsible for violating the democratic process,” Latvian Foreign Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis told AFP.
“At the same time, we must think how to promote democracy in Belarus,” he said. “We don’t support economic sanctions because they affect many ordinary people, and haven’t worked before.”
Western observers faulted the poll, which gave victory to strongman Alexander Lukashenko who has ruled Belarus since 1994..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110130com3.html
0 comments
Post a Comment