EU excludes 24 Belarusian officials from the black list

Among them are not only former but current officials, university rectors, and judges.

Council of the European Union has taken 24 citizens of Belarus off the list of persons subject to EU sanctions, Interfax reports referring to the Official Journal of the European Union. Among them are both former and current officials - Natalia Piatkevich (the former assistant to the president of Belarus), Leanid Maltsau (Chairman of the State Border Committee), Henadz Niavyhlas (the former head of the Presidential Administration), Anatol Rubinau (former chairman of the National Assembly), Yauhen Paludzen (former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs), officials, judges, and university heads.

The EU Council gave no reason for removing the 24 from the blacklist but said that the sanctions against Belarus must continue because "not all political prisoners were released and rehabilitated" and the "principles of a law-ruled state and democratic society have not improved in Belarus," RFE/RL writes.

Let us recall that the Council of the EU extended by a regulation the sanctions against Belarus until October 31, 2015. The EU brought up the fact that not all political prisoners had been released and rehabilitated, as well as the fact that respect for human rights, the rule of law and democratic society in Belarus had not improved.