EU agrees legal basis for new Belarus sanctions

BRUSSELS - European Union foreign ministers signed off on Monday on changes to the bloc's sanctions framework, preparing the way for a new round of sanctions on Belarus, according to an EU statement.

"The Council today amended its sanctions regime in view of the situation at the EU's border with Belarus, so as to be able to respond to the instrumentalisation of human beings carried out by the Belarus regime for political purposes," the statement said.

Reuters reported the formal agreement for the legal change, agreed by EU envoys, on Nov. 10.