That would include a favourable trade regime with the EU, visa-free travel and support as a candidate for the World Trade Organization.

Von der Leyen was also asked about the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that many states were taking their own approach to combatting the virus, rather than a united pan-European response.

Friday 25 September 2020 | About Us | Contact Us | Register for free email alerts Subscribe for full access Login. BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers failed to agree sanctions against Belarusian officials on Monday, despite an appeal by the country’s main opposition leader. She was charged last week with calling for “actions aimed at undermining Belarusian national security”. Cyprus, which insisted the EU should impose sanctions on Turkey for a gas exploration dispute, blocked the decision to go ahead with the move. The Brussels diplomatic mission of Cyprus, which has said it needs time to study imposing sanctions on Belarus, did not replied to a request for comment on Friday evening.

During a Foreign Ministry briefing, spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that the EU were using "the name of Navalny solely as an open attempt to give the new EU restrictions a deliberately anti-Russian orientation. ", She went on: "We hope that common sense will prevail in the European Union, that our partners will abandon the practice of arbitrarily naming the guilty and will continue to draw conclusions only on the basis of real and proven facts.". The sources, speaking after a Friday afternoon session of the bloc’s 27 national envoys to EU hub Brussels, said Nicosia insisted on its veto on introducing the already-promised sanctions on Belarus. Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has urged the EU to show courage and step up its support for her movement, as the bloc's internal squabbles about sanctions rolled on. While Cyprus demands new EU sanctions on Turkey over its dispute with Ankara, the bloc’s powerhouses Germany and France are at odds over how hard to go on President Tayyip Erdogan, the sources said, further muddying the prospects for the bloc’s swift reaction to the crisis in Belarus. Approval is still possible by EU leaders at a summit on Thursday and Borrell said that by the next time foreign ministers meet on Oct. 12, the sanctions would be agreed. The EU vowed weeks ago to impose sanctions on Belarus for alleged election fraud and human rights abuses, and had been planning to finalise the decision when the bloc’s foreign ministers meet on Monday. All rights reserved. The presidents of Lithuania, Poland and Romania said on Monday they will ask EU leaders at this week's summit to offer an economic support package for Belarus if it holds a democratic election. Members of the last European Parliament backed a resolution calling for one in March 2019. So far the bloc has yet to approve a list of some 40 Belarusian officials to be hit with travel bans and asset freezes. His critics say the election was rigged in his favour. About a hundred supporters gathered in and around the courthouse. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. About a hundred supporters gathered in and around the courthouse.

Cyprus wants a deal first on measures in its dispute against Turkey. Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makey warned earlier it would take corresponding measures against any EU sanctions. Back in Minsk, a city court rejected a legal appeal from the defence team of Tsikhanouskaya's political ally, Maria Kolesnikova, against her detention.

See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. Originally, it was expected that the blacklist would be agreed at the ambassador level by the EU Foreign Affairs Council's session on Sept 21 and the ministers would merely approve it.