Baltic States – CIS, Belarus, EU – Baltic States, EU – CIS, Lithuania

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called the head of Lithuanian diplomacy to express his country's support for Lithuania's chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In addition, according to Azubalis, he and the German foreign minister talked about the need to find a united EU response to the events in Belarus. "Our main work in the European Union this month will concern the discussions to find a united response to the events in Belarus," said Azubalis. The EU enforced visa sanctions against Lukashenko and another 40 officials after a similar suppression of protests following the 2006 presidential elections. The EU temporarily lifted the ban in 2008, when high-ranking political prisoners were released. Immediately after that, the president of Belarus visited Italy, writes LETA/ELTA.

EU embassies in Minsk are currently drawing up a new list, which will be sent to Brussels on Friday. An EU diplomatic source told EUobserver said that the original version of the list included over 100 officials of Belarus.

Economic sanctions were also considered. "Large-scale economic aid will not be even discussed, at least for a while," said Bildt, pointing out that before the presidential elections the EU proposed 3 billion euros in economic aid to Belarus for the next three years. The EU is also considering the possibility of withdrawing all the projects related to the Belarusian authorities, removing Belarus from the EU's Eastern Partnership meetings and actively supporting the country's civil society. Some EU member states are wary of pushing Belarus into isolation, because they fear the Kremlin's increasing influence in Minsk, the lrt.lt website writes.

"I do not have any fear, I respect every opinion of the OSCE member states, we value these opinions, we collect and discuss them, and you will be informed as soon as the decision is made, whereas now I am not here to say which opinion is better," stated Azubalis. On Monday, after President Grybauskaite's meeting with the foreign minister, presidential spokesman Linas Balsys said that a decade-long isolation of Belarus did not bring any good.

On Tuesday, the foreign minister explained that no door was closed and that every effort would be made so that Belarus would not shut itself away.

"There are informal and formal consultations going on, we are not closing the door and we are consulting the Belarusians, we also use all diplomatic means available to us so that Belarus would keep the door open instead of closing it and going towards self-isolation," said Azubalis.

The foreign minister says that Minsk's decision not to extend the mandate for the OSCE office is a step towards self-isolation. The Belarusian authorities are urged to rethink the decision. Speaking about the likelihood of the non-recognition of the Belarusian election results, Azubalis referred to the statement by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights saying that "this election did not meet the basic criteria of the organization and democracy."

"I think it is a sufficiently clear expression," said Azubalis.

The EU decision on sanctions against Belarus is expected on January 31, at the EU Foreign Ministers' Council meeting.