Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on Monday will announce sanctions against about 30 Belarusian officials, including President of the Republic Alexander Lukashenko. On Monday, August 31, Reuters reports with reference to the President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda.
According to the agency, we are talking about sanctions related to the travel ban.
The sanctions list, as Nauseda noted, is the first step. It can be expanded later.
On August 28, Lukashenko threatened to respond to countries that will impose sanctions against the republic. The Belarusian leader stressed that “they got drunk and forgot what Belarus is.” He also added that the republic has already faced sanctions and will be able to overcome new difficulties.
Then the Prime Minister of Lithuania Saulius Skvernelis said that the refusal of Belarus to use Lithuanian ports would harm Minsk first of all.
On August 19, the head of the European Council Charles Michel said that the European Union plans to impose sanctions against a “significant” number of people in Belarus “responsible for violence and electoral fraud.”
On August 27, EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that the foreign ministers of the EU countries during an informal meeting in Berlin would discuss individual sanctions on Belarus, but would not make decisions.
Mass protests in Belarus began on August 9 after citizens from different cities in the country refused to recognize the election results. The people who took to the streets faced opposition from the security forces, there are casualties on both sides, several civilians were killed.