EU EYES BAN ON IMPORTS OF BELARUS OIL, POTASH

After sealing off their skies to Belarusian air traffic, the European Union's foreign ministers are now debating targets for economic sanctions, with the oil and potash sectors looking likely, Ella Joyner reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

"We really need to find the sectors, the companies, who actually benefit the regime, but not hurting the people," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said before talks with his EU counterparts in Lisbon.

The measures are the next planned response to the forced diversion to Minsk of a commercial flight between two EU capitals - Athens and Vilnius - in order to detain a Belarusian opposition journalist and his companion on Sunday. The EU is among many international voices calling for the release of Roman Protasevich and his partner, Sofia Sapega, and already moved to restrict access to its airspace for Belarusian carriers.

Landsbergis suggested the oil products sector was an option but stressed that debate was only just starting. Another possibility floated by Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, would be the potash sector. State company Belaruskali is one of the world's biggest suppliers.

The foreign affairs ministers' meeting on Thursday had been the first step into the direction of economic and sectoral sanctions, EU Foreign Affairs Chief Josep Borrel said after the meeting. However, they could only be adopted during their next meeting, which is scheduled for June 21, he said.

"We need a little bit more time," he told reporters in Lisbon, adding that only a limited number of sectors were being considered as Belarus did not export many products.

Targeted sanctions against individuals were well underway, however, Borrel said. The list of people and companies that will see their assets frozen and entry into the EU banned was almost complete, he said.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned Minsk it could face a sustained campaign of punitive measures. "We will be watching which consequences these have in Belarus, if we see change of direction from [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko," Maas told journalists. "If that is not the case, we must assume that this is only the beginning of a major, long spiral of sanctions," he said.

The EU does not recognize Lukashenko as Belarus' legitimate president. Protests following an August 2020 election the opposition says was rigged have been met with a brutal crackdown. The bloc has imposed EU asset freezes and travel bans on dozens of individuals linked to state repression in the past 10 months, including Lukashenko himself.

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