“And today we have agreed to proceed with the preparation of the next round of sanctions as a response against the brutality of the authorities and in support for democratic rights of Belarusian people,” Borrell told a press conference.

According to the foreign policy representative, the new sanctions will target not only individuals but also entities.

Last month, the leaders of the EU countries reached an agreement on sanctions against the Belarusian government. They did not, however, include President Lukashenko in the list, saying that otherwise no dialogue between him and the people of Belarus should ever be expected to take place.

 Belarus has been witnessing mass anti-government protests since the results of the presidential elections in the republic were announced late on 9 August. According to the country’s election committee, President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in office for 26 years already, was re-elected for a sixth term after winning more than 80% of the vote, while opposition candidate, Svetlana Tikhanovskays, got a bit more than 10 percent. Clashes between protesters and riot police repeatedly took place during the rallies. Opposition supporters have accused the authorities of resorting to excessive violence during the protests.