[ad_1]
The sanctions are imposed on Belarus on May 23 after the crash landing of a European Ryanair passenger jet flying from Athens to Vilnius in Minsk.
Raman Pratasevičius, a blogger who flew on the plane, co-founded the Belarusian opposition channel Nexta on the Telegram platform, which Minsk considers an extremist, and his friend, Sofia, a Russian citizen studying in Vilnius, was detained at the airport.
Seven people on the sanctions list are directly involved in the incident, and 71 people will be sanctioned as a result of the Belarusian government’s broader campaign against the opposition, diplomats said.
The measures are to be formally adopted on Monday, during a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Belarusian authoritarian President Aliaksandr Lukashenko sparked international outrage by ordering a fighter jet to take over the passenger liner. In response, the European Union has already banned the Belarusian national airline Belavia from entering its airspace and urged European companies not to fly into Belarusian airspace.
Brussels is also currently preparing new sanctions for important sectors of the Belarusian economy. Potential targets include fertilizer production and bond sales in Europe.
The EU had already blacklisted 88 people, including Lukashenko and his son, and seven companies. They are subject to an asset freeze and visa ban due to the brutal crackdown on protests that followed last August’s elections.
After the elections in which Lukashenko, 9.3 million. Having ruled Belarus with an iron fist for more than a quarter of a century, it has secured a sixth term, and Belarus has been rocked by unprecedented protests for several months. The Belarusian opposition and the West believe that the elections are rigged.
Lukashenko, backed by Russia, is still not paying attention to the effects of the pressure.
