Berlin Hopes EU Will Finalise Sanctions on Belarusian Officials Next Week

"We are working hard in the EU to coordinate the package of targeted sanctions against those responsible for falsifications in the [Belarusian presidential] election. The [EU] foreign ministers will hold talks in Brussels next Monday; they will discuss this", Adebahr said at a briefing, adding that there are currently no guarantees that the sanctions will be finalised at this meeting.

"We will welcome it, and we are working on it," Adebahr went on to say, stressing that Berlin "sees the need to and wants to urgently implement the Belarus sanctions."

When asked whether Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko would be slapped with sanctions, the German Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman said there was no final decision yet.

"The foreign ministers will discuss at their talks on Monday whether we should increase pressure on the Belarusian government and Lukashenko in particular, and how we should do it," Adebahr explained.

Belarus has been hit by mass protests since the presidential election in August, which saw President Alexander Lukashenko enter his sixth term. The opposition leaders have refused to recognise the results, claiming their candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was the true victor.