A man was sentenced to death in Belarus for killing a toddler, despite repeated calls by the European Union for the abolition of the capital punishment in the only European country that still carries out the death penalty.

The EU expressed in a statement on 28 October its sincere sympathy to all those affected by the crime, and urged the country to abolish the death penalty.

"The European Union opposes capital punishment in all circumstances. Capital punishment is an inhumane and ineffecti...