EU set to sanction 160 Lukashenko associates

(BRUSSELS) - The EU is set to impose visa bans and asset freezes on Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and 160 of his associates after a crackdown on the opposition, diplomatic sources told AFP Thursday.

A decision in principle to sanction the Lukashenko regime was agreed January 7 by ambassadors of the European Union member states, but the nature of the sanctions and their targets had not been agreed.

"Given there has been no improvement in the situation of the Belarus opposition, it is time to take decisions," said one diplomat, who asked not to be identified.

Lukashenko was sworn in for a fourth term a week ago in a lavish ceremony boycotted by the West over the jailing of some of the opposition's most prominent figures.

Tens of thousands protested on election night in Minsk on December 19 against what they perceived as unfair elections. Police detained more than 600 people and four candidates who stood against Lukashenko are still being held, along with leading liberal journalists and activists.

A decision on measures targeting the Belarus government will be made official by EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday but ambassadors from the 27-nation bloc have already drawn up a list "of around 160 people" to be targeted.

The sanctions will include a ban on travel within the union and an assets freeze.

Some EU members, notably Poland and Sweden, who favour tough action against Minsk, have called for economic measures as well, or at the least a threat of economic sanctions.

But a diplomatic source said there may be no consensus for such measures as "we don't want to penalise the population, only officials in charge of organising elections and the subsequent repression of the opposition."

By slapping sanctions on 160 people, the EU would be widening 2006 measures against Lukashenko and some 40 associates, also following a crackdown against the opposition. The travel ban was lifted in 2008 in the hope of encouraging democracy.