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| - The European Union will look at imposing further economic sanctions on the regime of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting of European affairs ministers on Thursday, diplomats said. The EU already sanctioned Lukashenko, his son and 53 others for the violent repression of Belarusians protesting results of the August 9 presidential election, which the opposition, the EU and Canada called fraudulent. "All options are open. Sectoral sanctions are on the table," one diplomat told AFP. "It will be up to the ministers to decide the nature of the measures to adopt." A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said extra sanctions were being considered after the death a week ago of an opposition activist, 31-year-old Roman Bondarenko, after he was savagely beaten in detention. No sanctions announcement was expected immediately at Thursday's ministers' meeting because it is being held by videolink, owing to coronavirus measures, which weakens its decision-making authority. But sources said the ministers could launch a procedure with a view to having sanctions adopted unanimously by the 27 member states. The existing sanctions by the EU prohibit the Belarusian officials getting visas and freezing their assets in the bloc. But "nothing has changed on the ground", a European diplomat said. "Pressure has to be maintained and political push is needed." Belarusians continue to demonstrate against Lukashenko despite repression and intimidation by plainclothes police and security forces. The exiled leader of the opposition, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, has been urging Europe to go further with its sanctions against Lukashenko's regime. csg/rmb/dc/pma
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