Ryzhankou Says Europe Is Suffering Without Belarusian Tourists

Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhankou said Europe is suffering without Belarusian tourists and is engaging in self-isolation.

“All of this looks much more like self-isolation by the European Union than the isolation of Belarus or Russia. Because with every new sanctions package, it is the European Union and its citizens who suffer the most,” he was quoted as saying by BelTA.

Ryzhankou expressed the view that the EU has gone too far with sanctions.

“We can all see how the residents of the European Union themselves are suffering because they have been cut off from markets, because our tourists are no longer visiting these countries, and because they no longer have access to the cheap and reliable resources that were previously supplied,” he said.

According to him, the EU “remains confined to a relatively small area in which it now finds itself.”

“It is obvious to everyone who is suffering more from these sanctions,” he added, noting that Belarus continues to cooperate with Russia, the vast Eurasian region and Africa.

It should be noted that the combined territory of the European Union’s 27 member states is 4.23 million square kilometers, and is even larger when including countries in the broader European economic community and the United Kingdom. At the same time, EU member states face no restrictions on cooperation with China, India, countries in Africa or Latin America.