(Bloomberg) -- Belarusian national carrier Belavia and Syria’s Cham Wings Airlines are among entities the European Union is planning to sanction over a migrant crisis that the bloc blames on Minsk. 

EU member states are expected to approve sanctions on 17 individuals and 11 entities this week, according to two people familiar with the measures, who asked not to be identified because the decision is not yet public. Nitrogen fertilizer producer Grodno Azot and oil producer Belarusneft, as well as Belarusian border officials and judges, are also on the list, one of the people said. 

The EU accuses President Alexander Lukashenko of orchestrating a crisis involving thousands of people from the Middle East in retaliation for mounting sanctions the bloc imposed over his crackdown on opposition protests following last year’s disputed presidential election. The Belarusian leader told migrants last week he wouldn’t block their attempts to cross into EU member states Poland and Lithuania. 

Last month, the EU approved new powers that allow it to sanction people and entities involved in human trafficking and people smuggling.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.