EU sanctions Belarus over flight incident, alleged rights abuses

Bloc announces new and wide-ranging package of punitive measures in response to the ‘escalation of serious human rights violations’.

The European Union has imposed wide-ranging economic sanctions on Belarus in response to what the bloc called the “escalation of serious human rights violations”, including the detention Roman Protasevich. Thursday’s sanctions target the economy but are also aimed at hitting President Alexander Lukashenko and his allies. Protasevich, a journalist and activist, was arrested along with his girlfriend on May 23 after Belarusian flight controllers ordered a Ryanair jet traveling from Greece to Lithuania to land in Minsk.