European Commission President, Ursula Leyen, on Friday, said that she supported sanctions on Belarusian officials who violated democratic values or abused human rights.

“I am confident today’s EU foreign ministers’ discussion will demonstrate our strong support for the rights of the people in Belarus to fundamental freedoms and democracy,’’ she said.

The 27 EU foreign affairs ministers are set to meet on Friday afternoon to discuss the possibility of sanctioning Belarus.

However, if the commission reaches a political agreement on imposing additional sanctions on Belarus, the EU had in previous years already sanctioned some officials and imposed an arms embargo.

The move, however, would still have to be formally adopted at a later point.