Lithuania and Estonia have been asking other EU member states to impose sanctions on Belarus' embattled leader Alexander Lukashenko, Reuters reports quoting unnamed diplomatic sources.
The Baltic states have already blacklisted Lukashenko and 29 other officials implicated in the continuing crackdown on Belarusian protesters and the opposition. The EU is also finalising a list of people to be placed under sanctions, but it is unlikely to include Lukashenko, according to Reuters.
Read more: Lithuania sanctions 30 Belarusian officials including Lukashenko
The EU is coordinating the response with the US and the UK and is planning to blacklist 10–15 Belarusian officials, Reuters reports.
The individuals will face travel bans and asset freezes in the EU.
EU sanctions require the approval from all member states and may be approved during the meeting of foreign ministers on September 21, according to Reuters.
“I am de facto certain that we [the EU] will organise as much resources as will be needed to support the opposition movement in Belarus,” the agency quotes former Polish prime minister Donald Tusk who heads the European People's Party group in the European Parliament.
Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said on Wednesday that Minsk had drafted its own blacklist of officials from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in retaliation.
Read more: Belarus drafts sanctions against Baltic states
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