BRUSSELS: European Union leaders will try to break a stalemate over Belarus on Thursday by untangling a separate standoff with Turkey that has exposed the paralysis in the bloc’s decision-making.
Meeting in Brussels for a two-day summit, leaders are set to confront Cyprus, one the EU’s smallest members, which is accused of holding up approval of economic sanctions on Belarus following an election in August that the West and the opposition say was rigged.
While Britain and Canada have gone ahead with punitive measures on Minsk to show support for pro-democracy protests, the impasse in the 27 state-EU, where decisions are taken by unanimity, has cost the bloc credibility, diplomats said.
“We expect that it (the summit) will be the tipping point for the decision on sanctions against Belarus authorities,” Gitanas Nauseda, the president of Lithuania, where Belarus’ main opposition…