EU bans Belarus carriers from flying over EU territory News
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EU bans Belarus carriers from flying over EU territory

The EU adopted a plan Friday banning Belarus airlines from flying over EU territory or landing in EU airports.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko’s security forces allegedly reported a false bomb threat on a Ryanair flight from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania. The flight was forced to redirect outside of EU airspace to Minsk, where Belarusian security forces arrested Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Seofia Sapega, a Russian citizen studying in Lithuania.

In late May, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) demanded the immediate release of Protasevich and Sapega. In the European Council, EU heads of state and government condemned the forced landing. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also condemned Lukashenko’s actions.

This led to the EU Aviation Safety Agency issuing a safety directive last Wednesday stating that it was no longer allowed for EU aircraft operators to conduct operations in Belarus airspace.

On Friday, three EU diplomats announced that the EU had adopted the plan banning Belarus airlines from EU territory. As part of the ban, the 27 member states are required to deny Belarus airlines, including marketing carriers, permission to land in or take off from EU airports. The states will also have to ban the airlines from flying over their territory.

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