EU Poised To Hit Belarus With Initial Sanctions This Week
- Ban on overflights and landings set to be approved Friday
- More measures to follow as early as next week, into summer
Photographer: Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images
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The European Union is set to roll out a first round of restrictions on Belarus this week over the forced landing of a Ryanair flight between two of the bloc’s capitals and the arrest of a journalist, according to three diplomats familiar with the matter.
Europe’s fury was triggered after an airliner traveling from Athens to Vilnius was diverted last month under the escort of a Mig-29 fighter jet to the Belarusian capital. Police there arrested Raman Pratasevich, who had reported on the protests against President Alexander Lukashenko’s discredited declaration of victory in last year’s election.