EU to ban Belarusian airlines from flights to EU

by time news

The summit of the leaders of the EU countries on Monday evening decided to ban Belarusian airlines from flying in the EU and servicing at the airports of the EU countries after the incident with the Ryanair plane landing in Minsk, follows from the message on the website of the European Council.

The summit also called on European airlines to avoid flying over Belarus.

“The summit calls on European carriers to abandon flights over the territory of Belarus. The summit instructs the EU Council to take the necessary measures to prohibit Belarusian airlines from flying in the airspace of the European Union and to close their access to the airports of the EU states, ”the statement says.

Among other statements of the EU leaders – to immediately release Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega, to investigate the incident. The European Council will also consider adopting new personal and economic sanctions against Belarus.

On May 23, a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius made an emergency landing at the Minsk airport due to a message about the mine laying of the aircraft. After the plane landed in the capital of Belarus, the former editor-in-chief of the opposition Telegram-channel Nexta Roman Protasevich was removed from the flight and detained. An emergency landing of the plane in Minsk was requested by the Ministry of Defense of the Republic, citing a message about a bomb, but later it turned out that the threat of mining turned out to be false.

The EU summit on Monday evening, May 24, decided to ban Belarusian airlines from flying in European airspace, the body said on its website. In addition, diplomats advised European airlines to avoid flying over Belarus. European leaders demanded from Belarus to immediately release Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega, from ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) – to investigate the incident. The European Council will also consider adopting new personal and economic sanctions against Belarus.

.

You may also like

Leave a Comment