EU Court Refuses To Lift Sanctions Against Belavia

The Company shall pay the court costs.

The European Court of General Jurisdiction in Luxembourg considered the lawsuit of Belavia Airlines against the Council of the EU, in which the company demanded to lift sanctions against it. The court refused to lift the sanctions and ruled that Belavia should pay the court costs.

The EU imposed sanctions against Belavia in December 2021. The justification indicated that Belavia was engaged in the delivery of migrants to Belarus, who then tried to illegally cross the border with the EU.

"To facilitate this, Belavia opened new air routes and increased the number of flights on existing routes. Local tour operators acted as intermediaries in the sale of Belavia tickets to potential migrants, thereby helping Belavia to stay in the shadows," the justification said.

The court considered that the evidence of the Council is sufficient to establish that Belavia contributed to the activities of the Lukashenka regime to facilitate the illegal crossing of the external borders of the EU and benefited from the Lukashenka regime.

Belavia's claim was dismissed. The Company shall reimburse the court costs.