EU widens Belarus sanctions to make Lukashenko regime ‘run dry’

Sanctions extended as punishment for forced landing of Ryanair flight and detention of journalist

The European Union has extended sanctions against Belarus, with pledges to make Alexander Lukashenko's regime run dry", following last month's forced landing of a Ryanair flight to arrest a dissident.

EU foreign ministers on Monday agreed to add 86 people and entities to the bloc's sanctions list, as a punishment for the arrest of the journalist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, who were detained after being hauled off a flight from Athens to Vilnius.