Written question asked by Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative) on Wednesday, 14 March 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 19 March 2007. It was answered by Geoffrey Hoon (Labour) on Wednesday, 21 March 2007 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Belarus

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps she is taking in the UN Security Council with regard to sanctions on Belarus.

Answer: Previous attempts to discuss Belarus at the UN Security Council have not met with success, due to objections by Russia. We have no current plans to raise this subject in the UN Security Council.Current EU restrictions imposed after the recent fraudulent elections are designed in such a way that they can be targeted towards the regime, not the people of Belarus. A decision to renew these EU measures for a further 12 months was cleared by parliamentary scrutiny in March this year.

Secondary information