Belarus: Confusion about canceled Moscow flights

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke on Friday of “technical problems” following a recommendation by the EU to avoid the airspace over the former Soviet republic after the forced landing of a European passenger plane in Belarus. “The aviation authorities are working hard these days to get rid of them.” The case has made international headlines since the beginning of the week.

The aviation authority Rosaviazija announced that the approval of other routes is currently taking longer due to many inquiries. Within 24 hours, however, a total of 53 planes could have approached Russia on new routes. Earlier, the EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell had said that he did not know whether these were individual cases or a general new regulation by the Russian authorities to force European planes to fly over Belarus.