Baltic states expand sanctions on Belarus

VILNIUS: EU Baltic states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on Friday expanded sanctions against Belarus by slapping travel bans on more officials over a rigged presidential election and crackdown on opposition protests.

Lithuania’s foreign ministry said the Baltic trio added around 100 people to the blacklist, including judges, prosecutors, riot police officers and presidential administration officials. “Time passes and this is the minimum we should do regarding those who had beaten people and possibly committed crimes,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told AFP on Friday. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were the first European Union members to impose sanctions against Belarus, blacklisting embattled strongman Alexander Lukashenko and another 29 officials on August 31st.

Linkevicius said the new round of sanctions was triggered by Lukashenko’s inauguration as president on Wednesday and the EU’s failure to take similar action. EU ministers decided in principle last month to impose sanctions against the regime, but Cyprus has been blocking their approval until the bloc agrees similar measures against Turkey over gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.