Belarus plane: What action can the EU take?

EU leaders are gathering in Brussels today for a summit, a day after Belarus forced the diversion of a Ryanair plane flying over its territory to arrest an opposition journalist.

They will discuss their response and possible new sanctions against Belarus.

What measures are already in place?

The EU imposed sanctions against Belarus on 1 October 2020, in response to the "brutality of the Belarusian authorities and in support of the democratic rights of the Belarusian people".

These restrictions - a travel ban and asset freeze against individuals associated with the government of Alexander Lukashenko - have since been expanded to include 88 individuals and seven organisations.

IMAGE COPYRIGHTREUTERS

image captionAlexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994

Those on the list are forbidden from entering or transiting through EU territories and their assets in the EU are frozen. In addition, EU citizens and companies are forbidden from making funds available to any individual and company on the list.

What further sanctions will EU leaders consider?

One option is to ban the Belarus national carrier, Belavia, from landing at EU airports.

Belavia currently flies to 26 EU destinations including Paris, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Rome, Stockholm and Warsaw.

Lithuania, the final destination of the Ryanair flight, has called on EU leaders to issue a joint recommendation to suspend all flights by EU airlines over Belarus airspace.

Countries benefit financially from allowing their airspace to be used by other airlines.

IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGES

It has also proposed the EU should call for the suspension of Belarus from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). This is the UN body overseeing international aviation standards.

The EU leaders will also look into extending travel bans and asset freezes already in place against persons and entities associated with President Lukashenka's government.

Suspending all transit, including ground transit from Belarus to the EU, is reportedly also being proposed for discussion in Brussels.

Do other countries have sanctions against Belarus?

The UK mirrors the current EU sanctions.

Foreign affairs select committee chair Tom Tugendhat, speaking on the BBC's Today Programme, called for economic sanctions against Belarus including closing of the Yamal gas pipeline.

This runs from Siberia in Russia, through Belarus and Poland to Germany.

The US also imposed travel restrictions and targeted financial sanctions on nine state-owned entities and 16 individuals, including President Lukashenko. First imposed in 2006, these were tightened in 2008.

In 2015, after President Lukashenko released six political prisoners, Washington suspended sanctions on state-owned companies and in 2019 the two countries announced they would exchange ambassadors.

However, in October 2020, following the "fraudulent August 9, 2020 Belarus presidential election", the US expanded the sanctions to include 24 people.