Saturday, June 5 2021 12:23

ArmInfo.The European Union officially banned on Friday Belarusian carriers from its airspace. This was reported on the website of the EU Council.

Thus, according to the source: " The Council of the EU decided to  prohibit the overflight of EU airspace and access to EU airports for  all Belarusian aircraft, the institution representing EU governments  announced in a press release.

The decision means that EU member states will have to deny permission  to overfly, land, or take off from their territories to any  Belarusian carriers.

The ban implements the agreement of EU heads of state and government  reached during their summit last week, in response to the forced  landing of the Ryanair flight to Minsk and the detention of  Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich and his partner.

On May 23, citing a "bomb threat," a Belarusian MIG-29 fighter jet  forced a Ryanair plane passing through Belarus' airspace to land, and  then detained passenger Pratasevich, a journalist wanted for his  involvement in "terrorist incidents."

Pratasevich is the founder of the social media news channel NEXTA,  which played a major role in protests last summer demanding the  resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko after the Aug. 9  elections.

The results of the presidential poll were widely contested by the  Belarusian opposition and the majority of the international  community, including the US and European governments.

The EU did not recognize the results and also condemned the violence  against protesters.  Since October 2020, the bloc has imposed  sanctions against 88 individuals, including Lukashenko and seven  entities. Due to the green light given by EU leaders, the blacklist  will also be soon extended.>