Hungary FM’s Belarus visit 1st from EU country since 2020

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has made the first visit to Belarus by a high-level politician from a European Union country since Belarus imposed a harsh crackdown on opposition in 2020.  Mondays trip came ahead of EU deliberations on a new packet of sanctions against Belarus. The EU has already imposed an array of sanctions on the Belarus, both for the repression that ensued after mass protests during the 2020 presidential election and for the country hosting Russian troops following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Belarusian political analyst Valery Karbalevich said Western sanctions have created huge difficulties on Minsk’s export of potash fertilizers and oil products, key revenue sources.