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President Lukashenko (l) and Russia's Vladimir Putin - Lukashenko is welcome back in Europe, but not forgiven (Photo: president.gov.by)

EU welcomes back Belarus autocrat

EU foreign ministers on Monday (13 October) lifted a visa ban on Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and Uzbekistan president-in-waiting Rustam Inoyatov. But EU diplomats say Mr Lukashenko is not off the hook for crimes committed under his watch.

The Belarus move sees an EU travel ban suspended for six months on the country's authoritarian leader and 35 of his officials. Travel restrictions were upheld on five members of the Belarus nomenklatura - Viktor Sheyman, Yury Sivakov, Dmitri...

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Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.

President Lukashenko (l) and Russia's Vladimir Putin - Lukashenko is welcome back in Europe, but not forgiven (Photo: president.gov.by)

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Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.

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