EU has a relatively small range of options for sanctions against Russia and Belarus - expert

  • 2023-03-29
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - The EU has a relatively small range of options for sanctions against Russia and Belarus, Maris Andzans, director of the Geopolitical Studies Center and vice-rector of Vidzeme University, told LETA.

The leader of the Russian regime, Vladimir Putin, announced last week that Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. NATO called Putin's statement dangerous and irresponsible, but the EU's high representative of foreign and security policy, Josep Borrell, pointed out that the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus will be a threat to European security.

Andzans emphasized that Putin's statement is another stage of Russia's escalation of the conflict, together with Belarus, which is certainly a valid reason for imposing additional sanctions against both countries, however, it is currently unclear what sanctions the EU member states could agree on. In the opinion of the director of the Geopolitical Studies Center, just as important as imposing new sanctions against the two countries is to follow up on attempts to circumvent the existing sanctions.

"The EU should definitely move forward with the next round of sanctions. However, it is difficult to imagine what the next painful step for Russia could be, to which EU member states could agree on. If it were, for example, a complete ban on trade or the transportation of goods, then in Latvia's case it would mean that the transit sector would almost completely be closed down," Andzans said.