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Crisis in Belarus

Kremlin clarifies entry denial to flights bypassing Belarus due to point of entry issues

According to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, European airliners circumventing flights around Belarus "are asking to enter at different points that are absolutely not coordinated, and therefore technical problems arise

© Artyom Geodakyan/TASS

MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. Cases where Moscow has refused to accept flights from the European Union bypassing the territory of Belarus are due to technical issues related to the coordination of points of entry into Russia’s airspace, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

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"I am convinced that the aviation authorities will provide the necessary clarifications, but these are technical issues," Peskov specified. He noted that "there are certain points of departure and arrival in the airspace of each country".

"Planes don’t just fly into the country anywhere, there are certain agreed on points and agreed on echelons, since we are talking about the traffic of a large number of aircraft and aviation security," Peskov explained. According to him, European airliners circumventing flights around Belarus "are asking to enter at different points that are absolutely not coordinated, and therefore technical problems arise".

Peskov added that the Russian aviation authorities are putting in a great amount of effort to iron out, as soon as possible, the issues related to the denial of entry to the country's airspace that European airliners bypassing the territory of Belarus have encountered. "The aviation authorities are working hard these days. Indeed, the situation is out of the ordinary. Of course, we would prefer that such situations did not arise," Peskov insisted.

Earlier, High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrell raised alarm bells over Moscow's refusal to accept flights from EU countries. He noted that the day before there was news about hindrances to the takeoff and landing of aircraft in Moscow.

Borrell said that the EU would monitor the situation to take measures, and also warned of the possible risk of relations between the EU and Russia souring even further.

Ryanair aircraft incident

A passenger jet belonging to Ryanair, an Irish low-cost airline, performing a flight from Athens to Vilnius on May 23 was forced to make an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport after a bomb threat on board the plane had been reported. The quick reaction alert crew of a MiG-29 fighter jet was dispatched to escort the airliner.

A subsequent search after the aircraft had touched down in the Belarusian capital failed to find any information confirming this fact. The Belarusian Investigative Committee opened a criminal probe into a deliberately false bomb scare.

Minsk later specified that Roman Protasevich, wanted in Belarus as a co-founder of the Nexta Telegram channel deemed extremist, had been among the flight’s passengers. He was taken into custody by law enforcement agents, together with Sofiya Sapega, a young Russian woman traveling with him.

The European Union’s summit held after the Ryanair incident decided to ban Belarusian air carriers from carrying out flights to European airports and through the EU’s airspace. It also recommended that European air carriers avoid flying over Belarusian territory.

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