EU Closed the Sky for Belarus

Even tougher sanctions will follow next week.

The procedure for coordinating sanctions against state-owned Belarusian airlines launched in the European Union did not meet with objections, the deadline for which ended yesterday at 14.00 Western European time (15.00 Minsk time). Thus, the penalties taken in response to the forced landing of the Ryanair flight in Minsk came into effect from 00:00 Saturday (01:00 Minsk time), 5 June.

The sanctions imply a ban on Belavia and other Belarusian state-owned aircraft from crossing the airspace of all 27 EU states and landing at airports in the EU. In addition, European national air carriers are prohibited from flying to Belarus.

In a statement, the European Council explains that this decision follows from previous conclusions, when the heads of state and government of the EU "strongly condemned the illegal forced landing of the Ryanair flight on May 23 in Minsk, which endangered aviation security."

As sources in the European Union told Radio Svaboda, there is a preliminary agreement that, on Wednesday, the EU representatives will introduce a ban on entry and freeze assets for 7 people and one company in connection with the incident with the Ryanair plane.

The so-called "fourth package" of sanctions is expected later - it should include about 70 people and companies, as well as sectoral economic sanctions.

On June 2, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued a directive urging the authorities of the EASA states to oblige national air carriers to avoid the airspace of Belarus.

The Irish carrier's passenger liner incident sparked a violent reaction from Europe. The plane flying from Athens to Vilnius on May 23 was forcibly landed in Minsk.

Dispatchers of the Belarusian airport informed the crew about the threat of an explosion on board. When the aircraft landed, the security forces detained Raman Pratasevich, co-founder of the Telegram channel NEXTA, and his companion, Russian woman Sofia Sapega - they were on board.

Immediately after the incident with Ryanair, Brussels announced the closure of airspace and European airports for Belarusian airlines.