EU Reportedly Approves Fresh Sanctions On Belarus Over Migrant Crisis

EU ambassadors on December 1 agreed on a fifth sanctions package against Belarus that will add 17 people and 11 entities in response to what the bloc considers Minsk's orchestration of a migrant crisis on its border, diplomats said.

The punitive measures are now set to be formally adopted and implemented by EU ministers on December 2, according to the diplomats.

The European Union accuses Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka of waging a "hybrid war" by allowing migrants to fly in, then funneling them to the bloc's borders in retaliation for the bloc's sanctions imposed over the brutal crackdown on Belarus's pro-democracy movement following the disputed presidential election last year.

The United States is also preparing additional sanctions on Belarus in coordination with the European Union, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after a NATO foreign ministers meeting in the Latvian capital, Riga.

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