The Latvian Foreign Ministry has banned Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and 29 other Belarusian officials from entering the country because of the situation after the presidential elections; the authorities of Lithuania and Estonia also took similar measures. The authorities of the Baltic republics announced this on Monday.
“On the basis of the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia, as well as coordination with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Estonia and Lithuania, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Edgars Rinkevichs decided to impose an indefinite ban on entry to Latvia for 30 officials of the Republic of Belarus,” the statement of the Latvian Foreign Ministry said.
“By sanctions we show that we are very serious about the violation of human rights in Belarus,” said Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu.
In turn, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Lithuania reported that the Migration Department under the Ministry of Internal Affairs on Monday added information about these Belarusian persons to the list of foreigners who are prohibited from entering the republic.
The list, in addition to the President of Belarus, also includes his eldest son, the presidential aide for national security Viktor Lukashenko, the head of the presidential administration Igor Sergeenko, the first deputy head of the presidential administration Maxim Ryzhenkov, the deputy head of the presidential administration Olga Chupris, the presidential chief of staff Gennady Bogdan, the chairman of the State Security Committee Belarus (KGB) Valery Vakulchik, Interior Minister Yuri Karaev, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Belarus Ivan Noskevich, Minister of Justice Oleg Slizhevsky, Chairman of the Central Election Commission Lidia Yermoshina and others.
Earlier on August 31, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said at a press conference that the authorities of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia on Monday will announce the imposition of sanctions against about 30 officials of Belarus, including President Alexander Lukashenko. Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis announced on August 26 that the Vilnius sanctions list for Belarus will come into force after being agreed with Riga and Tallinn. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry included 118 people in it, including President Alexander Lukashenko. All these persons, according to Vilnius, were related to the falsification of the results of the presidential elections in Belarus and the unjustified use of force against the protesters.
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