Brussels, 24/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - In Brussels on Friday, EU heads of state and government decided to impose new sanctions on Belarusian leaders and condemned the police intervention against demonstrators in October Square. In a statement, the European Council deplored the fact that the Belarusian authorities “failed to meet OSCE commitments for democratic elections” and considered the 19 March Presidential election marred by irregularities. In a continent whose societies are open and democratic, Belarus is a sad exception, says the statement. The European Council decided to take restrictive measures against those responsible for violations of international electoral standards and to include explicitly on the list the name of President Lukashenko. Those whose names feature on the list will not be granted a visa; to this effect, the EU hoped to continue to work in close cooperation with its international partners. At the same time, the statement welcomed the message of hope from the democratic opposition and civil society in Belarus and added that, “in very dangerous circumstances and at great personal risk”, their efforts to bring democratic progress deserved our recognition and support. The EU restated its commitment “to further strengthen its support for civil society and for democratisation”, to increase people-to-people contacts and encourage access to independent sources of information. The Summit launched a call to the Belarusian authorities to release all political detainees immediately and to stop their repression of all forms of protest. The Council called on the international partners, and especially the neighbours of Belarus to follow the same approach as the EU. As the representative of a neighbouring country, Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz welcomed the list of those to be denied a visa. In a gesture of solidarity, he also said that the students arrested or expelled from Belarusian universities would be accepted into Polish universities.