EU set to expand Belarus sanctions list amid borders row

Migrants warm themselves near fire gathering at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno (BelTA pool photo via AP)

European Union foreign ministers are expected to expand sanctions against Belarus to include airlines, travel agents and individuals alleged to be helping to lure migrants to Europe as part of a “hybrid attack” on the bloc by president Alexander Lukashenko.

The 27-country EU has already slapped a series of sanctions on Mr Lukashenko and senior Belarus officials over what the bloc says were fraudulent elections last August that illegitimately returned him to power, as well as the security crackdown on the opposition and peaceful protesters that followed.