In a bid to partially curb the flow of migrants entering the bloc, the European Union (EU) is willing to implement sanctions against the national airline of Belarus, an official said.

This was one of the measures discussed by EU foreign ministers and would serve as a message for other airlines that they were "playing the game of smugglers of human beings",

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said  EU is working with the countries of origin and convincing them that these are not tourists who suddenly want to visit Minsk but people who have been duped into believing that there is a way into Europe via Latvia, Lithuania or Poland, according to reports. He said that there was "a long list of countries" from where the migrants were transported. "That is a situation we have to denounce and fight," he added.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has earlier denied any wrongdoings concerning immigrants leaving the Middle East and entering the European Union via Belarus The Belarusian Telegraph Agency reported in May that the conflicts in Libya, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan contributed to the development of terrorism.

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