Canada Imposes New Sanctions on ‘Key Sectors’ of Belarus Economy

TORONTO (Sputnik) - Canada is imposing new sanctions on Belarus by targeting sectors vital to the country's economy in hopes of minimizing Minsk’s access to international markets, Global Affairs Canada said in a statement on Monday.

“Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced new sanctions under the Special Economic Measures Act in response to the ongoing, gross and systematic violations of human rights in Belarus. These new measures impose restrictions on key sectors of the Belarusian economy and minimize Belarusian state actors’ access to international finance,” the statement said.

The sectors affected by Ottawa’s sanctions include transferable securities and money market instruments, debt financing, insurance and reinsurance, petroleum products and potassium chloride products, the statement said.

The sanctions, in response to alleged human rights violations, are being administered in conjunction with the international partners, the statement added. The United Kingdom introduced a new package of trade, financial and aviation sanctions on Belarus just hours earlier.

The fifth round of sanctions against Minsk - Ottawa has already imposed sanctions against 72 Belarusian officials and five entities under the Special Economic Measures Act – coincides with the re-election Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, which Western nations, including Canada, have denounced as fraudulent.

Lukashenko said the United Kingdom is “nothing more than a US sidekick, but the country's government has not publicly commented on Canada’s sanctions.

Belarus has been beset by Western aggression and sanctions since the country's opposition first organized protests following Lukashenko’s re-election in August of 2020. The opposition continues to insist that its candidate, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, won the election.