The demonstrations are by far the largest and most persistent in Belarus since its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991. The EU is pondering sanctions for top Belarusian officials, but it failed to agree on imposing them this week and plans to continue discussions in the coming week. Meanwhile, Britain said on Thursday it was working on sanctions and also was in discussions with the US and Canada. Mr Makei said the situation in Belarus “indeed has become complex,” but he dismissed Western countries’ complaints as meddling “statements brimming with cynicism”. “In actual fact, they are nothing but attempts to bring chaos and anarchy to our country to make Belarus lose many years of development.”PA Media

Source: Irish Independent September 27, 2020 01:41 UTC