Annual review of European Union’s restrictive measures against Belarus should be made effective by closing loopholes and counterbalancing delistings with additional listings

Working Group on Investments of the Committee on International Control over the Human Rights Situation in Belarus has released on 10 October, 2013 a new policy paper, “Annual review of European Union’s restrictive measures against Belarus: Economic Sanctions should be made effective by closing loopholes and counterbalancing delistings with additional listings”.

The paper is aimed at informing deliberations of stakeholders in the framework of October 2013 annual review of the European Union’s restrictive measures regarding Belarus. The paper is based on a study of open sources and official documents in Belarus and EU, analytical studies, and interviews with Belarusian and international experts in economics and social sciences and civil society activists between June and October 2013. The paper provides analysis of effectiveness of existing European Union’s restrictive measures regarding Belarus and offers the EU member states and institutions concrete recommendations for making these measures more effective in facilitating positive change in the human rights situation in Belarus, starting with the release and rehabilitation of all political prisoners.

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