BRUSSELS, May 27. /TASS/. The EU has begun working on new sanctions against Belarus to be imposed over the Ryanair plane incident, but it is too early to say which sectors these sanctions will cover, European Council President Charles Michel said at a press conference Thursday.
"The implementation plan has already been triggered. On sectoral sanctions, those subjects will be analyzed by the appropriate institutions. […] It is too early to pick out a particular sector," he said, answering a question whether the EU sanctions will cover the Belarusian potassium industry.
However, he pointed out that the imposition of sanctions has been "agreed in principle."
Earlier, EU High Representative Josep Borrell announced that Foreign Ministers of the 27 EU countries would discuss how to implement sectoral sanctions against Belarus over the May 23 incident during the informal meeting in Portugal Thursday.
On Monday, the EU summit ordered the imposition of emergency sanctions against Belarus, demanded the immediate release of Belarusian opposition figure Roman Protasevich and asked the International Civil Aviation Organization to investigate the plane incident as a violation of the Chicago Convention on International Aviation, as well as from the standpoint of safety for the plane and passengers.
On May 23, the Ryanair plane en route from Athens to Vilnius made an unscheduled landing in the Minsk airport after a bomb threat. A MiG-29 jet scrambled to escort the plane. No bomb was found on the plane after a search. The Investigative Committee of Belarus has opened a criminal case over charges of an intentionally false bomb threat.
Later, Minsk disclosed that the plane was carrying the Nexta Telegram channel (deemed extremist in Belarus) co-founder Roman Protasevich. He was detained by law enforcement officers. Later on Sunday, the plane departed from Minsk and landed in Vilnius.