EU says foreign ministers to meet Friday on Belarus

BRUSSELS: European Union foreign ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting on Friday to review the situation in Belarus, Lebanon and the eastern Mediterranean, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced.

"We will discuss urgent issues and address the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Belarus presidential elections as well as developments in Lebanon," Borrell tweeted Wednesday.

The European Union says both the situation in Belarus following the contested re-election for a sixth term of strongman Alexander Lukashenko and growing Greece-Turkey tensions over oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean are very serious cause for concern.

On Tuesday, the bloc condemned the Belarus election as "neither free nor fair" and Borrell threatened sanctions against "those responsible for the observed violence, unjustified arrests, and falsification of election results."

Friday's meeting will be held via a video conference, meaning the foreign ministers cannot make policy decisions but they can, for example, commission officials to look at what options are available . "That would speed up the process of adopting concrete action," an EU source said.

The foreign ministers were next due to meet officially on August 27-28 in Berlin to prepare for the EU leaders summit in Brussels on September 24-25.

Greece meanwhile said Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias will meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Vienna Friday as Athens rallies support against erstwhile NATO ally Turkey over its claims in the eastern Mediterranean.

"The conversation will focus on developments in the eastern Mediterranean given the increased provocation by Turkey," the Greek foreign ministry said in a statement.

Dendias had called Tuesday for an urgent EU foreign ministers meeting on the growing tensions with Turkey.