Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said the European Union intends to extend individual and sectoral sanctions against Belarus for another year. According to him, this means that Lithuania will not change its sanctions policy over the next 12 months, Delfi reported.
“If anyone has the illusion that sanctions will be lifted soon, then I must immediately reassure such people that the sanctions regime against Belarus — both individual and sectoral sanctions — will be extended for another twelve months. This should happen next week,” the head of state told journalists on Thursday.
“A unanimous agreement on this issue was reached at the level of ambassadors somewhat earlier, so nothing will change in the sanctions policy toward Belarus over the next twelve months,” he added.
According to Nauseda, there have recently been no signs of a change in the behavior of the Belarusian authorities. He said Belarus has become an accomplice to Russia in the war against Ukraine. He noted that despite the release of some political prisoners, new detentions continue.
Earlier, the Lithuanian president emphasized that EU sanctions would remain in place as long as political prisoners remain in Belarus and cases continue of launching weather balloons carrying contraband cigarettes. Additional tension in relations has been caused by the situation involving the detention of Lithuanian trucks in Belarus.
The United States imposed sanctions on Belarusian fertilizer producers in 2021. The European Union applied sanctions to the Belarusian potash sector in 2022, and Lithuania halted the transit of Belarusian fertilizers in February 2023.