LUXEMBOURG – The European Union (EU) will impose travel bans and asset freezes on 86 Belarusian individuals and companies on Monday and is preparing economic sanctions that Austria said would “tighten the thumbscrews” on President Alexander Lukashenko.
Outraged at the forced landing of a Ryanair passenger plane on May 23 to arrest a dissident journalist, EU foreign ministers will blacklist transport, defense, and air traffic officials.
“We have to tighten the thumbscrews after this callous action of state air piracy,” Austria’s Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told reporters.
EU states are also set to impose economic sanctions on Belarus’ financial, oil, tobacco and potash sectors, after a provisional deal was agreed on Friday.(Reuters)
