17/02/2020 (Agence Europe) – On Monday 17 February, the EU Council extended the restrictive measures against Belarus for one year, i.e. until 28 February 2021. The legal acts related to this decision will be published in the Official Journal of the EU on 18 February. The sanctions include embargo on arms and a ban on the export of equipment that could be used for internal repression. Four persons linked to the unresolved disappearances of two opposition politicians, a businessman and a journalist, in 1999 and 2000, are also subject to a travel ban and the freezing of their assets. The EU Council also extended the derogation to the restrictive measures to allow the export of biathlon equipment to the country and a limited number of specific-use sporting rifles and pistols, which remain subject to prior authorisation by the competent national authorities on a case-by-case basis. (CG)