EU to Hit Key Belarus Sectors After Plane Diversion

EU foreign ministers will look to agree sanctions on key sectors of the Belarus economy Monday to punish the authorities after the forced landing of an airliner, diplomats said.

Ministers meeting in Luxembourg are set to discuss broad-ranging measures designed to hit the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko "in the wallet", a European diplomat told AFP on Friday.   The sanctions are expected to target mainstays of the Belarusian economy, including potash fertilizer exports, the tobacco sector, and petroleum and petrochemical products, diplomats said. They will also tighten restrictions on exports from the bloc of arms and equipment that can be used to crackdown on demonstrators, diplomats said. "We are talking about sanctions that will hurt," the diplomat said. Diplomats said there is still disagreement over targeting the financial sector due to opposition from EU member Austria, which has deep banking ties with the country.