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VILNIUS, Mar 16, BNS - European Union (EU) foreign ministers ruled to keep in place suspension on sanctions against Belarus, i.e. ignore previously imposed EU visa bans for Belarus top officials for a nine month period. The suspension on sanctions against Belarus is extended for a limited period, meaning Minsk's obligations and promises will be reviewed at the end of this term, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Vygaudas Usackas told BNS after an EU General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) session on Monday.

"We specifically discussed sanctions as applied with regards to 25 Belarus officials. (...) It was decided today to extend to 12 months the imposed sanctions, all-the-while suspending their implementation for nine months. (...) Most EU ministers were in favor of keeping the community open to dialogue with Belarus, however it is important to warrant certain monitoring measures, so as to make sure that Belarus commitments and promises to facilitate conditions for an effective open society are kept", the minister continued.

It is of national interest to Lithuania to have an independent, stable Belarus, functioning under free market laws and with a democratic society in place.

Following the non-democratic elections in Belarus in 2006, the EU imposed sanctions on President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko - named by Washington to be the last dictator in Europe - banning him from visiting EU member states.

These sanctions, however, were suspended last year in an effort to reinforce Belarus leaders after their move to release political prisoners.