BRUSSELS, January 27. /TASS/. Illegal unilateral restrictive measures imposed by the European Union are currently in force against more than 30 countries worldwide, with a combined population exceeding 2.2 bln people, according to materials from the international conference Unilateral Coercive Measures: Contemporary Threats and Challenges, organized by the Belarusian mission in Brussels.

The conference was attended by members of the European Parliament as well as the UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on human rights, Professor Elena Dovgan.

"Illegal unilateral coercive measures currently affect Russia, Belarus, Iran, China, North Korea, Myanmar, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Guinea, and other countries. The European Union employs similar measures against more than 30 countries worldwide. The total population of the countries listed exceeds 2.2 bln people," the conference materials state.

Dovgan explained that any sanctions may be imposed only by a decision of the UN Security Council. All other restrictive measures are unilateral coercive measures that are unlawful from the standpoint of international law, she noted.

She demonstrated through specific examples that unilateral sanctions are not merely a tool of interference in the internal affairs of states but directly result in the deaths of members of the most vulnerable population groups.