Eight European Countries Join the EU’s New Sanctions Against the Lukashenko Regime

The latest package of punitive measures imposed by the European Union against Belarus, led by Aleksandar Lukashenko, has received official support from North Macedonia, Albania and six other European countries that are not members of the EU.

Among the countries that will align their national policies with the decisions of the EU Council adopted in July are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Ukraine, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, INA reports.

Brussels’ new decisions introduce expanded restrictions on goods and technologies that could be used to strengthen Belarus’s military, technological, defense and security capabilities.

The measures also include new controls on the import of products that could provide Minsk with alternative sources of revenue. The package also expands restrictions on Belarus’s involvement with crypto-asset companies (cryptocurrencies) based in the EU.

Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, welcomed the decision by the eight European countries outside the bloc to join the European sanctions against Belarus, Reuters reports.

The European Union links these measures to Belarus’s involvement in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, as well as to the ongoing actions of the Belarusian authorities, which have drawn criticism and sanctions from the international community. /INA/