RIGA, May 26. /TASS/. The government of Latvia restricted air service with Belarus on Tuesday, the country’s transport ministry said.
"In response to the actions of the Belarussian authorities in intercepting and landing a civilian passenger aircraft of airline Ryanair from the European Union forcibly at the Minsk airport, when assessing the information available to the aviation safety authorities and responding to the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, today, May 25, the Latvian government introduced restrictions on the issuance of flight permits to air carriers registered in Belarus and thus to enter Latvian airspace and use Latvian airports," the ministry said in a statement.
"The rights of Latvian aircraft are also restricted for using Belarusian airspace and airports. The decision takes effect immediately," the statement says.
The government decision also stipulates that Latvian airports will be closed for aircraft of other countries that use the Belarusian airspace on their flight route.
"It means that the Ministry of Transport will suspend the flight permit for the Belarusian airline Belavia and shall not issue non-scheduled flight permits to Belarusian carriers. The airBaltic route permit to Minsk will also be suspended," the transport ministry said.
The ministry added that the country’s Civil Aviation Agency (CAA) had carried out a risk assessment of Belarusian airspace and had identified it as unsafe for flights of civil aircraft. The government order will remain in force until the Belarusian airspace is deemed safe for flights again.
A Vilnius-bound Ryanair flight that took off from Athens was forced to make an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport on May 23 after a reported bomb threat. The plane was escorted to the Minsk airport by a MiG-29 fighter jet and landed safely. No bomb was found on board. Roman Protasevich, one of the co-founders of the Nexta Telegram channel, which was recognized as extremist in Belarus, was among the passengers. Protasevich, currently living in Lithuania and wanted in Belarus, was detained after the airliner had landed in the Belarusian capital. The plane left Minsk and continued on to Vilnius later on the same day.