Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 15 February 2015: EU officially lifts sanctions on Belarus

EU Leaders have agreed during a Council of Ministers meeting on 15 February 2016 that the targetted sanctions on 170 Belarus officials will be lifted. The sanctions already had been suspended before. The move comes following an improvement in EU-Belarus relations following the troubles in the Ukraine during which Belarus played a mediating role. While not all sanctions were lifted, it means the end of the isolation of Belarus, that has been faced by increasing sanctions since 2006. In the following statement by the Council of Ministers, the Ministers stated "There is an opportunity for EU-Belarus relations to develop on a more positive agenda and that progress in a variety of fields can better be achieved through enhanced channels of communication".