Belarus vexes as foreign ministers arrive for EU summit

European Union foreign ministers arrived in Brussels on Monday to weigh up whether to impose sanctions on dozens of Belarus officials including President Alexander Lukashenko.

The EU has drawn up a list of around 40 people it could hit with asset freezes and travel bans in response to irregularities in the Aug. 9 elections that gave Lukashenko a sixth term in office, and over the crackdown that followed.

The question is whether to include Lukashenko, who has repressed opposition and independent news media during 26 years in power and refuses to talk with the protesters.

Many members of the Coordination Council that was formed by the opposition to push for a transition of power have been arrested or have fled the country.

A number of ministers met Lukashenko’s main opponent, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, over breakfast.

Speaking after the meeting, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said “the violence that Lukashenko is exerting against peaceful demonstrators is completely unacceptable.”

Maas, whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said the ministers must ask whether Lukashenko, "the one who bears the main responsibility, mustn’t also be sanctioned by the European Union.”