Latvia

Agencies within the Latvian government are deeming the coalition's decision to support EU sanctions against Belarus as short-sighted. The Employment Confederation of Latvia in particular has raised concerns that in making the decision 'Latvia did not follow a politically responsible and far seeable position, when supporting the use of economic sanctions against Belarus' We do not expect the government to backtrack on its commitment to increased sanctions, should they go ahead, given that all CIS countries accounted for only 14.5% of Latvia's export market versus 72.4% to the EU over January-November 2011. However, this public display of derision does highlight a potential source of friction in the new government.

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