The EU commented on the decision of Minsk to withdraw from the Eastern Partnership

“The European Union regrets the decision of (President of Belarus Alexander. -

) Lukashenko to suspend his participation in the Eastern Partnership program,” Massrali quotes TASS.

According to her, the decision of Minsk “is a demonstration of disdain for the Belarusian people,” which, in her opinion, is “the beneficiary of the implementation of various projects within the framework of the Eastern Partnership.

Massrali stressed that the European Union "remains open to work with the Belarusian people within the framework of the Eastern Partnership program and will continue to support the Belarusian people and civil society."

She also added that the EU considers Minsk's call to withdraw the EU ambassador from Belarus for consultations "a step towards self-isolation" and calls for keeping open channels of communication.

Earlier it was reported that the head of the EU Delegation to Belarus Dirk Schuebel was summoned to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.

As noted, Belarus suspends its participation in the EU's Eastern Partnership initiative and begins the implementation of the procedure for suspending the EU's readmission agreement.

The European Union last week announced the introduction of economic sectoral sanctions against Belarus due to the incident with the Ryanair plane, which on May 23 urgently landed at the Minsk airport.