A three-billion-euro EU investment package for Belarus will remain on hold and frozen until the country turns democratic, the chief of the European Union’s executive said on Monday.
“We will put pressure on the regime until it finally respects the freedom of media, the freedom of press and the freedom of opinion,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said before a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels who will consider imposing further sanctions against Belarus.
The new measures may target individuals involved in the forced landing of a Ryanair plane, businesses and economic entities financing the country’s leadership and the Belarussian aviation sector, von der Leyen said.
European Union leaders agreed on a set of sanctions to be laid against Belarus after a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was forced to land in Minsk and a Belarusian journalist on board was detained.
Source Reuters
