EU extends sanctions against Lukashenka's regime?

27 EU foreign ministers are expected to approve extending sanctions against Belarus, Iran and Syria at a meeting in Brussels, RIA Novosti learned from a source in the EU Council.

As of Belarus, the EU ministers may extend the list of Belarusian officials who have been banned from travelling to the EU and whose foreign assets have been frozen due to crackdown on the opposition and civil society. Today, 245 Belarusian officials are included in the blacklist.

The ministers are expected to approve the so called restrictive measures in relation to 179 individuals and institutions linked to the government over the country’s nuclear program.

It is expected that the tenth set of sanctions against Syria, where clashes between opponents of president Bashar Assad and government forces have been continuing for over 8 months. New sanctions are to target a number of institutions in financial, banking and energy sectors, as well as individuals and institutions linked to the crackdown.

The EU foreign ministers are also supposed to discuss the situation in Kosovo, Afghanistan and settlement of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.