New restrictive measures against Belarus

On February 24, 2025, an addition to the sanctions program against Belarus was published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The new restrictive measures fall under:

• Council Regulation (EU) 2025/392, amending Regulation (EC) 765/2006 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus and the involvement of Belarus in Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Below is a detailed summary of the main sanction measures.

Individual Measures

A new designation criterion has been introduced in Regulation (EC) 765/2006 for individuals who are part of Belarus’s military-industrial complex, who materially and financially support it, or who benefit from it, including those involved in the development, production, or supply of military technology and equipment.

Entities identified based on this criterion will be listed in Annex I of the Regulation (EC) 765/2006.

Objective Measures

Regulation (EU) 2025/392 introduces numerous amendments to the restrictive measures regarding the export and import of goods and services. Notably, export, sale, supply, transfer, import, purchase, and transit ban on certain goods may also be subject to prohibitions on providing technical assistance, brokerage services, and financial assistance under the relevant articles.

Exports

Dual-use goods and other items that may contribute to the development of Belarus’s defense and security sector

To strengthen export restrictions on dual-use goods to Belarus, Article 1e of Regulation (EC) 765/2006 has been reformulated to further limit existing exemptions, restricting them solely to humanitarian and medical purposes. Furthermore, some exemptions that previously did not require authorization are now subject to approval by competent authorities.