Belarus vows to strike back against EU sanctions

(MINSK) - Belarus vowed Friday to retaliate against the European Union after the bloc imposed still more sanctions on Minsk in a bid to persuade President Alexander Lukashenko to free his political prisoners.

"European politicians are still hostage to the logic of force and blackmail," the foreign ministry said in response to Friday's freeze on the assets of 29 Belarus companies and a ban on EU travel for 12 individuals.

"We are forced to immediately begin implementing a set of retaliatory measures -- our European partners were warned of this possibility in advance," it said in a statement.

The ministry failed to spell out its threat while noting that Minsk now had no intention of accepting back the EU ambassadors who were withdrawn by the bloc in protest last month.

Some members of the Belarus opposition had called on the European Union to send back its envoys because Lukashenko had responded to their protest by introducing a ban on foreign travel for his top political foes.