EP Rapporteur on Russia: Ice hockey championship important personally to Lukashenka

The boycott of the 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship in Belarus by European hockey clubs may be the only effective tool to influence Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

This statement was made by the European Parliament's rapporteur on Russia, Hannes Swoboda, RIA Novosti reports.

According to him, it's hard to escape a conclusion that boycotting the ice hockey championship is the only way to make Lukashenka change his policy, because it is “personally important for the president of Belarus”.

Belarus prepares for hosting the 78th Ice Hockey World Championship in 2014.

The relations between Belarus and the EU aggravated in late February, when the EU extended sanctions on Belarus due to human rights violations and the lack of democracy in the country. In response, Minsk recommended the ambassador of Poland and the head of the EU Delegation to Belarus to return to their capitals for consultations. The EU recalled all EU countries ambassadors accredited in Belarus. The EU plans to consider a possibility of introducing further sanctions against the country in late March.