The EU foreign ministers could not agree during the meeting on the list of Belarusian officials against whom Brussels intends to impose sanctions.
The decision is blocked by Cyprus, which requires the imposition of sanctions against Turkey because of its actions in the Mediterranean, TASS reports, citing a source in the delegation of one of the European countries in the EU Council.
“The position of Cyprus has not changed, the ministers were unable to agree on the black list. The question is now shifting to a summit at the end of this week, the source said. “On Friday there was the last meeting of the ambassadors, which also ended in nothing, so it was quite predictable that there would be no agreement at the Council meeting on Monday. Now the issue will be discussed at the summit on Thursday-Friday. “
As the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, later explained, it was not possible to agree on sanctions against Belarus because there was no unanimous decision. At the same time, according to him, all the heads of the EU Foreign Ministry consider the elections in Belarus rigged, Alexander Lukashenko is not the legally elected president. Borrell added that EU foreign ministers “are calling for new, free, fair elections under the supervision of OSCE experts.”
“The position of Cyprus has not changed, the ministers were unable to agree on the black list. The question is now shifting to a summit at the end of this week, the source said. “On Friday there was the last meeting of the ambassadors, which also ended in nothing, so it was quite predictable that there would be no agreement at the Council meeting on Monday. Now the issue will be discussed at the summit on Thursday-Friday. “
As the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, later explained, it was not possible to agree on sanctions against Belarus because there was no unanimous decision. At the same time, according to him, all the heads of the EU Foreign Ministry consider the elections in Belarus rigged, Alexander Lukashenko is not the legally elected president. Borrell added that EU foreign ministers “are calling for new, free, fair elections under the supervision of OSCE experts.”
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