MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. The EU's sanctions against Belarusian officials are crude pressure on the authorities, which have been working hard for the sake of normalization in the country, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a commentary on Friday.

"We regard this step as outright and impermissible pressure on the Belarusian authorities, which have been taking measures for the sake of domestic normalization. Once again the EU has not said a word in support of the constitutional reform, geared to liberalizing the political system of Belarus through a national dialogue. This should happen not on the streets, but within the framework of the national legal space, with all strata of Belarusian society taking part."

She stressed that instead of displaying restraint, so crucial for stabilization in Belarus "the EU has once again grabbed the instrument of sanctions," which is unilateral and illegitimate, undermines the prerogatives of the UN Security Council, and "leads to the further erosion of international law."

Zakharova recalled that EU officials and representatives of its individual member-states had repeatedly vowed that their attitude was devoid of geopolitics.

"In the meantime, the EU's decisions and the language of threats, just as other actions taken towards Belarus testify to the opposite. This is an obvious instance of violation of one of the key principles of the UN Charter and the OSCE Final Act signed in Helsinki - non-interference in the internal affairs," she said.

Zakharova pointed out that instead of playing a constructive role and promoting stabilization in Belarus the EU preferred to play into the hands of some of its member-states, which are determined to shake loose the internal political situation in Belarus further on.

"We are urging the EU to give thought to the dire effects this policy may entail," she stressed.

"Also, we draw attention to the fact that in accordance with the alliance obligations the retaliatory Belarusian sanction list, which is effective as of today, will begin to be automatically applied in Russia," the commentary says.

EU sanctions

The European Union on October 2 introduced sanctions against approximately 40 Belarusian officials, whom it holds responsible for alleged election rigging and human rights violations. The EU avoided taking personal sanctions against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, because that would undermine Brussels' own demand for entering into an OSCE-brokered dialogue. In response the Belarusian authorities introduced their own sanction list effective from Friday. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said that in accordance with the civilized diplomatic practice the list would not be made public.