European Union foreign ministers will begin discussing on Thursday which parts of Belarus' economy to target with sanctions following the forced landing of a plane there and the detention of a dissident journalist, the EU's top diplomat said.
"The hijacking of the plane and the detention of the two passengers is completely unacceptable, and we will start discussing implementation of the sectorial and economic sanctions," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters before the informal meeting in Lisbon.
He said work on a new round of sanctions on Belarus individuals was at an advanced stage, but did not give more details.
(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee in Lisbon, writing by Robin Emmott; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
