Baltic States – CIS, Belarus, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation

''This was an expected decision and is not a surprise,'' Eihenbaums said, adding that the dialogue with Belarus recently have seen positive tendencies.

''We are interested for relations to develop,'' Eihenbaums added.

The AFP news agency reports that European Union on Thursday extended sanctions against Belarus for an additional year, saying Minsk had not made enough progress on human rights to justify any other course.

The decision was taken "because not all political prisoners have been released ... and respect for human rights, the rule of law and democratic principles has not significantly improved in Belarus," a statement said.

At the same time, 24 people out of 243 and seven entities from 25 were taken off the list, it said.

This decision, however, did not not reflect any change in EU policy of "critical engagement with Belarus" designed to improve human rights, it added.

The EU first imposed sanctions in 2004 on Belarus, dubbed Europe's last dictatorship by rights groups under President Alexander Lukashenko who has been in power for 20 years.

Current sanctions include an embargo on arms and equipment which could be used for internal repression, as well as asset freezes and travel bans against individuals.