OREANDA-NEWS. On 03 April 2009 was announced, that Belarus may see the European Union’s discriminatory economic sanctions lifted as soon as the Eastern Partnership initiative has been launched, Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Andrei Yevdochenko told.

“As a member of the Eastern Partnership we could see discriminatory sanctions against Belarus abolished,” the deputy minister said.

He added that the move would result in a positive economic impact on Belarus, which would be much more substantial than the direct financial support the EU plans to provide in the framework of the Eastern Partnership project.

“Europe focuses on the financial aspects, but Belarus does not emphasize them – I mean the money they will apportion among Eastern Partnership recipients,” Yevdochenko said.

“This money cannot even be compared to what Belarus gets from Russia, China and other partners. The Eastern Partnership financing will be insignificant, especially if split among the six members,” he said.

EU leaders on March 20 supported the scheme to deepen the EU’s relations with six eastern neighbors, including Belarus.

European Union heads of state and government approved a scheme to tie the EU’s neighbors to the east – Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – closer to the bloc.