Opinions & Interviews

‘Looks like EU’s self-isolation’. FM on sanctions

MINSK, 27 July (BelTA) – The European Union’s introduction of new sanctions looks like self-isolation, Belarusian Foreign Affairs Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov told journalists before the seminar for heads of Belarusian diplomatic missions and consular offices held in Minsk on 27 July, BelTA has learned.

“This all looks not like some kind of isolation of Belarus or Russia, but like the self-isolation of the European Union. Because with every new sanctions package, the European Union and its citizens suffer the most,” Maxim Ryzhenkov said.

According to him, the European Union has already overplayed these sanctions. “We all see how much the residents of the European Union themselves suffer from being distanced from markets, from the absence of our tourists in those countries and from the cheap and reliable resources that used to be supplied,” the minister said, adding that EU countries today even find it more difficult to communicate with Asian states.

Maxim Ryzhenkov noted that the EU “remains self-restricted within a very small territory in which it currently exists”. “It is obvious to everyone who in this situation suffers more because of these sanctions,” he said, calling the EU’s policy absolutely thoughtless.

At the same time, Belarus continues cooperation with Russia, the vast Eurasian region, and Africa. “We are jointly shaping the Eurasian space as a space of stability, security, and cooperation, removing barriers to trade, the movement of goods, services, and people, lifting visa restrictions,” Maxim Ryzhenkov said.

He emphasized that the unilateral coercive measures imposed against the country open up new opportunities for finding other partners.

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