EU OFFICIALLY BANS BELARUSIAN CARRIERS FROM USING BLOC’S AIRSPACE

Fri 04 June 2021:

The European Union officially banned all Belarusian air carriers from using their airspace and airports, the Council of the EU said in a statement on Friday.

“The Council today decided to strengthen the existing restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus by introducing a ban on the overflight of EU airspace and on access to EU airports by Belarusian carriers of all kinds.

EU member states will therefore be required to deny permission to land in, take off from or overfly their territories to any aircraft operated by Belarusian air carriers, including as a marketing carrier,” the document says.

The ban implements the agreement of EU heads of state and government reached during their summit last week, in response to the forced landing of the Ryanair flight to Minsk and the detention of Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich and his partner.

On May 23, citing a “bomb threat,” a Belarusian MIG-29 fighter jet forced a Ryanair plane passing through Belarus’ airspace to land, and then detained passenger Pratasevich, a journalist wanted for his involvement in “terrorist incidents.”

Pratasevich is the founder of the social media news channel NEXTA, which played a major role in protests last summer demanding the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko after the Aug. 9 elections.

The results of the presidential poll were widely contested by the Belarusian opposition and the majority of the international community, including the US and European governments.

The EU did not recognize the results and also condemned the violence against protesters.

Since October 2020, the bloc has imposed sanctions against 88 individuals, including Lukashenko and seven entities. Due to the green light given by EU leaders, the blacklist will also be soon extended.

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