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Angela Merkel and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban
Photo: Olivier Hoslet / dpa
The way for EU sanctions against supporters of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is clear after a week-long blockade.
Cyprus withdrew its veto on the planned punitive measures on Friday night at the EU summit in Brussels, diplomats reported.
They could thus be adopted by the Council of Ministers in the coming days and come into force.
With the punitive measures, the EU wants to build up additional pressure on the leadership in Belarus (Belarus) and show solidarity with the people in the country.
In the former Soviet republic there have been protests and strikes against the authoritarian head of state Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years, since the presidential election on August 9th.
According to the current state of planning, the EU sanctions are intended to affect 40 people who are accused of participating in election fraud or violently cracking down on peaceful protests.
Lukashenko himself should not initially be among them.
The reason is that this could complicate diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict and would deprive the EU of the opportunity to tighten its course again.
Cyprus calls for sanctions against Turkey
The sanction plans were recently blocked because Cyprus had tied its approval to the European Union also imposing new sanctions on Turkey.
Cyprus and Greece have long called on the EU to react more sharply to Turkish gas explorations in the Eastern Mediterranean that they consider illegal.
However, other states believe that this could make ongoing mediation efforts difficult.
They want to wait before agreeing to new Turkey sanctions.
It was initially unclear whether, and if so, what Cyprus would get in return for giving up the veto.
Before the summit it was said in EU circles that the country had to be signaled that it had the unreserved support of EU partners.
Another ultimatum to Turkey was also under discussion.
Cyprus’s approach was extremely unpleasant for the EU because the Foreign Service recently announced several times that the Belarus sanctions could come into force shortly.
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bam / dpa