Commenting on the outcome of today's council of EU foreign ministers and their conclusions on Belarus, Green foreign affairs spokesperson Werner Schulz said:

"The failure by EU foreign ministers to expand sanctions in Belarus is a source of regret. Targeted sanctions against individual firms and individuals behind the regime are the only way for the EU to maintain pressure against Lukashenko. Exports to the EU in the first six months of 2012 alone totaled over €6 billion, at the same time as the regime was cracking down on human rights activists and journalists. Rhetorical rebukes will clearly not convince Belarus's dictatorship to change its course, and they do nothing for the credibility of EU policy in the region."