The European Council is sanctioning Belarus for hijacking the RYANAIR plane. All EU airlines will bypass Belarus' airspace!
Following the meeting of 24 May 2021, the European Council strongly condemns the forced landing of a Ryanair flight to Minsk, Belarus, which took place on 23 May 2021. The action endangered the safety of the crew and passengers, as well as civil aviation. At the same time, Belarus is being sanctioned for the detention by authorities of journalist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega.
Thus, the European Council decided to take the following measures:
- calls for the release of Raman Pratasevich and Sofia Sapega and for their freedom of movement to be guaranteed;
- calls on ICAO to urgently investigate this unprecedented and unacceptable incident;
- calls on the European Council to adopt additional listings of persons and entities on the basis of the relevant sanctions framework;
- calls on the European Council to adopt specific economic sanctions on Belarus;
- calls on all EU carriers to avoid flying over Belarusian airspace;
- calls on the Council to take the necessary measures to bans flying over EU airspace by Belarusian airlines and to prevent flights operated by these airlines to EU airports.
At the same time, the European Council is in solidarity with Latvia following the unjustified expulsion of Latvian diplomats from Belarus.