In an act of retaliation for the widened sanctions the United States and EU imposed against Minsk amid the severe crisis in ties, Belarus announced on Tuesday it is imposing a ban on food imports from a number of Western countries, starting from January 1, 2022.
The decree the Belarusian government published bans a wide range of food imports, such as meat, sausages, dairy products, vegetables, fruit, and salt from the US, EU, Britain, Canada, Norway, Iceland, Northern Macedonia, Albania, and Montenegro that were worth more than $530 million in the first ten months of 2021.
In line with the decree, goods that are not produced in Belarus will be replaced by the importers, manufacturers, and retail chains with supplies from friendly states, in an apparent nod to Russia.
The ban – which exempts baby food and dietary items in the interests of Belarus nationals – shall remain in force for six months, but more products could be banned in the future.
Belarus authorities pointed in a statement that they’ve taken retaliatory measures taking into account continuing attempts of the West to exert pressure by imposing illegal sanctions on Belarus.
The sanctions over Belarus’ regime were prompted by President Alexander Lukashenko’s crackdown on protests against his disputed re-election in 2020 and were recently widened – on December 2- on various Belarus officials and businesses to escalate punitive action against Lukashenko and his government for allegedly enticing a migration crisis for political reasons.
The newest set of sanctions targets one of Lukashenko’s sons, a few defense-related firms, senior security and justice officials, prominent media figures, and a major fertilizer exporter.
Sanctions were also imposed against the state airline Belavia, several tour operators, and hotels that have helped Lukashenko to spark a major migration and humanitarian crisis lure thousands of Middle Eastern migrants to the Polish and Lithuanian borders.
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