Luxembourg, 20/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Union has stepped up sanctions against Belarus, freezing the assets of companies and more officials, and imposing an arms embargo, EU foreign ministers announced on Monday 20 June. The measures are a response to what the EU says is the politically motivated detention and trial of members of civil society, the media, and the opposition, and ministers called for the release of all political prisoners. “In view of recent developments, the Council has decided to designate additional persons to travel restrictions and assets freeze”, they said in conclusions from their meeting in Luxembourg. “The Council has furthermore decided to impose an embargo on Belarus on arms and on materials that might be used for internal repression. It has also decided to freeze the assets of three companies linked to the regime”, they said. The ministers agreed unanimously on the move, according to Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. Relations between the EU and Belarus, a strong ally of neighbouring Russia, improved in 2008 and 2009, leading to the suspension of sanctions against Minsk. But the ties deteriorated badly in the wake of the latest presidential elections in the former Soviet state in December 2010.
Ministers also condemned the ill-treatment of prisoners, including torture, and said that they would closely monitor developments in Belarus. They stressed that the EU would continue to strengthen its ties to civil society and the Belarusian people. EU-Belarus relations could only improve, the ministers said, if Minsk were to respect democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and they warned that the EU remains ready to impose more sanctions. (LoC)