MINSK, June 5. /TASS/. A package of Belarus’ retaliatory sanctions against the European Union is ready, but Minsk hopes that the West will not slap it with more sanctions, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said in a televised interview with Belarus-1 channel on Saturday.
"We still hope that the hot heads will cool down and weigh, among other things, the interests of their businesses in Belarus. If the president’s statements at all international platforms over the recent decades are analyzed, the keynote has always been: we want peace and calm in the region, we call for a belt of good-neighborhood, we want to build equal partnership relations. We have done our best for it. But if any damage to our companies is in question, we have every right to compensate for that damage. A package of measures in response to the sanctions is ready," Golovchenko said.
Сompensation in court
According to Golovchenko, Belarus will seek compensation in court for the losses caused by sanctions imposed on Minsk after the incident with the Ryanair flight.
"We strongly feel that we are right and we are poised to defend our interests in court. I think we will be able to get compensation for the damage done to us," the Belarusian prime minister noted.
According to Golovchenko, "from the very beginning Belarus’ aviation authorities asked all the parties involved to provide objective control data."
"We have not received a single document until now. At the same time, Belarus immediately sent its objective control data through the established channels to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and some other European bodies dealing with aviation security," the Belarusian prime minister explained.
The prime minister pointed out that the West calls for an immediate investigation in the incident with the Ryanair flight.
"We want it as well. But the question is not for us. We spoke at a meeting of the ICAO Council and voiced our position, but ICAO has not yet started an investigation. I was informed that the commission had not been formed yet," the Belarusian prime minister stated.
Emergency landing
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 the bomb scare. The Belarusian Investigative Committee opened a criminal probe into a deliberately false bomb threat message.
Minsk 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. Sofia Sapega, a Russian national, was detained with him. In the evening, the plane took off from Minsk airport and landed in Vilnius later on May 23.
Following the incident, the EU leaders banned European air carriers from Belarus’ airspace and also banned the Belarusian airline Belavia’s flights to Europe.