Urmas Paet: Old sanctions against Belarusian regime are not effective

The Estonian Foreign Minister, Urmas Paet, is not sure whether the sanctions imposed by the EU Council on Belarusian top officials are effective.

This information was spread by REX news agency.

According to the minister, there’s only “a hope for achieving particular effect by the sanctions”. “We have this hope because what is the most important now is that Belarusian civil society could develop and people of the country could gain more liberties and more democracy,” Paet said. He notices a need to encourage the development of Belarusian civil society “so that the country could become a normal European state like its neighbours”.

Earlier, Urmas Paet and Latvian Foreign Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis said at a press conference in Riga on March 2 that the EU should tighten sanctions against the Belarusian leadership.

The Estonian Foreign Minister said that “very well-directed economic sanctions” against the Belarusian companies closely “cooperating with the regime and helping it to carry out these awful repressions” may be a way to influence official Minsk. “The EU should analyze this possibility and be prepared for very well-targeted sanctions – this is my position,” Paet stressed.

The foreign Minister of Estonia also spoke in favour of the EU two-vector policy towards Belarus that, in his account, “means full support of the fragile civil society and allocating grants for Belarusian students to study in European universities”. Paet emphasized the need for supporting the European Humanities University in Vilnius, where Belarusian students study, and spoke for facilitation of visa regime for Belarusian citizens.