BRUSSELS, May 11. /TASS/. The European Union does not allow its airlines to fly to Russia and is calling on Georgia, as a country that is seeking EU membership, to comply with the anti-Russian sanctions and not to allow Russian aircraft to enter its territory, Lead Spokesperson for EU External Affairs Peter Stano said on Thursday.
"We have taken note of the decision by the Russian authorities to lift the air travel ban on Georgia," Stano said.
"The European Union introduced sanctions against the Russian aviation sector and <…> [it] encourages Georgia, which is aspiring to be an EU candidate country, to align with the existing EU sanctions and sanctions of other countries against Russia also in the area of aviation. <…> And Georgia should also not allow unsafe Russian aircraft into its territory, because due to the sanctions 95% of the Russian airplane fleet is not able to update or upgrade their airplanes which is essential to maintain the necessary degree of international technical and safety standards," Stano said.
Stano left unanswered a Georgian reporter’s question regarding the visa-regime between Russia and Georgia.
Nor could Stano give a coherent reply to a question from a Chinese reporter who asked him to comment on the "unfair advantage" of non-Western countries, including China and Saudi Arabia, flying over Russian airspace.
EU diplomats make claims to countries across the globe over what they call their "unfair competitive advantage" of flying above Russia over European airlines which are forced to spend extra flight time and fuel on longer routes bypassing Russia. Brussels insists that other countries follow the EU’s suit and ban flights to Russia and in its airspace.