(Own report) - With a discussion of various drastic economic sanctions, Berlin and the EU are initiating their next round in the battle to topple Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. German Foreign Minster Heiko Maas calls not only for weighing punitive measures against Belarusian companies, but also for the country s exclusion from the SWIFT international payment system, which, according to experts, could lead to a massive collapse in the Belarusian economy - as it had once done in Iran. Of course, sanctions could also be damaging for one s own side, observers warn. Boycotting Belaruskali, for example, could cause serious problems for the farmers in EU countries. Luxemburg s Foreign Minster Jean Asselborn is quoted saying that the West might have to make “a little sacrifice.” The impending sanctions initiate the next round of more than two decades of Berlin, Brussels and Washington s attempts to topple Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
BBC News
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image copyrightEPA/Boris Roessler/Pool
image captionThe officer went on trial in Frankfurt on Thursday telling reporters he had a clean conscience
A German military officer has gone on trial, accused of posing as a Syrian refugee and planning far-right terrorism attacks on politicians.
Named only as Lt Franco A, the officer - who was based in France - led an extraordinary double life, registered as a refugee called David Benjamin.
He was eventually caught in 2017 trying to retrieve a handgun found by a cleaner in a toilet at Vienna airport.
The soldier insists he was not an extremist and had not plotted attacks.
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