European Union bans Belarusian airlines from its airspace after journalist’s arrest
- The 27 countries are obliged ‘to deny permission to land in, take off from or overfly their territories to any aircraft operated by Belarusian air carriers’
- Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich was on board a flight between Greece and Lithuania that was diverted to Minsk after an alleged bomb threat last month
The European Union will seal off its skies and runways to Belarusian airlines as of Saturday in response to the forced diversion of a Ryanair flight and detention of a dissident journalist and his girlfriend last month.
The 27 countries are obliged “to deny permission to land in, take off from or overfly their territories to any aircraft operated by Belarusian air carriers”, the bloc announced on Friday after member states envoys in Brussels formally signed off the move.
Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega were on board a commercial flight between EU countries Greece and Lithuania that was diverted to Minsk soon before it reached Vilnius after an alleged bomb threat. No bomb was found, but both were detained.
The bloc slammed the act as an affront to both air safety and freedom of the press. The EU has also called on all EU-based carriers to avoid flying over Belarusian territory.
Belarus dissident Roman Protasevich says protests should be abandoned, but supporters claim coersion
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) condemned Minsk's behaviour but also criticised the EU.
“Two wrongs do not make a right. Politics should never interfere with the safe operation of aircraft and politicians should never use aviation safety as a cover to pursue political or diplomatic agendas,” Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, said in a statement.
The bloc is also preparing a package of economic sanctions on individuals involved in the incident, but this could still take some time to finalise, according to DPA’s diplomatic sources.
