Europe closes its airspace to sanction Alexander Lukashenko

The standoff continues between the Europeans and the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko. In accordance with a recommendation from the European Union, which adopted new sanctions against the Belarusian regime on Monday 24 May, Air France has announced that it is suspending ” until further notice “ the flight over the airspace of the country by its aircraft.

Aircraft already en route will see their flight plan modified ”, the airline said in a statement overnight Monday to Tuesday, adding: “Air France constantly follows the evolution of the geopolitical situation of the territories served and overflown by its aircraft and strictly applies the regulations. “

EU leaders decided on Monday evening to close their airspace to Belarus and adopt a new set of sanctions against the regime, accused of having rerouted a European airliner to Minsk to arrest a dissident, of whom they demanded immediate release.

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They also recommended to European companies to bypass the airspace of the country, said the spokesman of the President of the European Council Charles Michel. These measures were quickly approved. The agreement, prepared in advance by consultations between the capitals, was announced two hours after the start of a summit of the Twenty-Seven organized face-to-face over two days in Brussels.

The United Kingdom and Ukraine have already blacklisted the airspace of this former Soviet republic, and German companies Lufthansa, Scandinavian SAS and Latvian AirBaltic have announced their decision to avoid its overflight. Singapore Airlines also announced on Tuesday changing the trajectory of its flights to avoid overflight of Belarus.

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Nearly 2,000 aircraft carrying out commercial flights use Belarusian airspace every week, the Eurocontrol organization said. The Belarusian company Belavia, for its part, operates around 20 flights every day from or to EU airports.

Risk of “death penalty”

Roman Protassevich, a 26-year-old opposition journalist, and his partner, Sofia Sapéga, were on board a Ryanair Boeing from Athens to Vilnius diverted Sunday to Minsk after, according to Belarus, a bomb threat, which turned out to be false. They were arrested at the airport and the young man is now being held in Minsk, the capital.

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Mr Protassevitch is a former editor-in-chief of influential opposition media Nexta. According to Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the Belarusian opposition figure in exile in Lithuania, he risks the ” death sentence “, which Belarus is the last country in Europe to apply.

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The United States and the UN have also demanded the immediate release of the young opponent. President Joe Biden condemned a “Scandalous event”. The European reaction “Is up to gravity” of this event “Absolutely unacceptable, shocking, scandalous”, declared the President of the European Council Charles Michel. “We will not tolerate any attempt to play Russian roulette with the lives of innocent civilians”, he warned.

The swift adoption of new targeted sanctions against regime and entity officials and the examination of additional economic measures have been called for by European leaders.

The European Union has already blacklisted 88 regime members, including President Alexander Lukashenko, and seven entities.

“Piracy”

European leaders have “Strongly condemned the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk (…) which endangered aviation safety ”. Minsk’s action was characterized as an act of “State terrorism” by several capitals. Washington denounced “A forced diversion”.

The explanations of the Belarusian authorities “Are absolutely not credible”, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “The regime transformed our country into North Korea in the middle of Europe”, denounced Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which wants, like the EU, a “International survey”, will meet its ambassadors on Tuesday to discuss the situation. Its secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, lambasted “A serious and dangerous incident”.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a UN-dependent body, has called an emergency meeting for Thursday morning. Forced landing “Could be a violation of the Chicago convention”, which protects the sovereignty of the airspace of nations, she said.

For Belarus, the European accusations are ” unfounded “. Minsk claims to have acted legally by intercepting this commercial flight after receiving a threat from the Palestinian organization Hamas. The regime said it had informed ICAO and said it was prepared to cooperate in an impartial investigation.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary lamented an act of “Piracy” and claimed that agents of the Belarusian security services, the KGB, may have been on board the rerouted Boeing.

The regime of Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, harshly repressed an unprecedented protest movement which saw tens of thousands of people marching in the streets in 2020 on the occasion of the presidential election in August, judged “Rigged” by Europeans.

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Despite the European and American sanctions targeting him and senior officials in the country, Lukashenko had shown no willingness to compromise in the face of the protest actions and stepped up the repression.

The World with AFP