| schema:articleBody
| - EU foreign ministers eyed sanctions on key sectors of the Belarus economy Monday as the bloc ratchets up pressure on President Alexander Lukashenko after the forced landing of an airliner. Ministers meeting in Luxembourg discussed broad-ranging measures targeting major revenue sources for the Belarusian regime: potash fertiliser exports, the tobacco industry, petroleum and petrochemical products, and the financial sector. They also formally signed off on placing 86 additional individuals and entities in Belarus on an assets freeze and visa ban blacklist, with the names to be published in the EU's official journal later in the day. Seven of the individuals being sanctioned are linked directly to the forced landing of a Ryanair passenger jet last month and the rest are targeted over the government's sweeping crackdown on opposition, diplomats said. Austria's top diplomat Alexander Schallenberg said he expected ministers as well to give "unanimous" backing for the broader sectoral sanctions that would include a ban on sales of surveillance equipment to Belarus and tightening of an arms embargo. "We will consistently continue on the path of sanctioning Lukashenko and his regime. We will no longer only sanction individuals but we will now also impose sectoral sanctions," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said. "We want to contribute in this way to the financial drying up of this regime." EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned no final decision would be taken on the sectoral sanctions until after the bloc's leaders meet for a summit in Brussels later this week. "We're going to hurt the economy of Belarus heavily," Borrell told journalists. Belarusian strongman Lukashenko sparked international outrage by dispatching a fighter jet on May 23 to intercept a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania. When the plane was forced to land in Minsk, Belarus arrested dissident journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega on board. Last year, the EU slapped sanctions on 88 individuals -- including Lukashenko and his son -- over a brutal crackdown on protests since the veteran leader claimed victory at elections in August deemed fraudulent by the West. Lukashenko, ruler of Belarus since 1994, has so far shrugged off the pressure with backing from his key ally Russia. Ahead of their discussions, EU ministers met with exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who insists she rightfully won last year's poll. "Sanctions aren't a silver bullet but they can help to end violence and release people," Tikhanovskaya wrote on Twitter. Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said he would also raise with EU counterparts the issue of a sudden spike in migrants, mostly Iraqis and Syrians, crossing over into the country from Belarus. Landsbergis accused the Belarusian authorities of funnelling the migrants through to hit back at its neighbour for leading the push to punish Minsk. He warned the flow could increase after sanctions were approved and that Lithuania "might need help and assistance from other European countries". bur-del/rmb/wai
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)