Bloomberg: Cyprus blocked the sanctions of the European Union against Belarusian officials

Cyprus did not support the decision of the European Union to impose sanctions against high -ranking Belarusian officials. Thus, the authorities of the republic achieve the introduction of restrictions against Turkish companies, writes Bloomberg.

Cyprus authorities refuse to support the EU decision until seven Turkish companies are included in the sanctions list that conducts drilling operations for natural gas production in the disputed section of the shelf in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. Negotiations on this issue have been underway since June 2019.

Since the introduction of sanctions restrictions requires a unanimous position of all 27 countries participating in the European Union, the decision on Belarus was blocked.

Context:

On August 19, the EU member countries held an emergency summit, according to the results of which they decided to non-recognition of the results of the elections of the President of Belarus. The EU also announced sanctions against Belarusian officials for the dispersal of protesters and illegitimate presidential elections.

On September 7, Reuters reported that the European Union has prepared a list of 31 representatives of the leadership of Belarus, in respect of which economic sanctions will be imposed. The president of the country Alexander Lukashenko was not included in the first version of the list. The decision on sanctions against Belarus could be made on September 21.

For several years, Türkiye has been reconnaissance of deposits on the seaside section, which Greece and Cyprus are considered part of its economic zones. At the end of 2019, Türkiye signed an agreement with the Libyan authorities on the delimitation of sea zones in the Mediterranean Sea to the detriment of Athens. This was criticized by Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and the European Union.

On August 27, the Greece parliament ratified the agreement with Egypt on the delimitation of sea zones in the Mediterranean Sea. The document enshrines the right to part of the sea shelf for Greece, which Türkiye considers its own.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the country would not abandon the plans for drilling, despite the threats of imposing sanctions on the conduct of exploration on the shelf of Cyprus.

At the end of July, President of Cyprus Nikos Anastasiadis turned to Vladimir Putin with a request to intervene in the situation and influence Turkey.

What does it mean:

To achieve universal support for sanctions against Belarusian officials, the EU foreign ministers promised to accelerate the work to introduce restrictions against Turkey. However, due to the fact that technical negotiations on this issue have not yet been carried out, restrictions on Minsk are postponed. Bloomberg notes that the solution is expected by the end of September.