EU PLACE SANCTIONS ON THE GOVERNMENT OF BELARUS
Written by AIGBOKHAEBHO OKHUELEIGBE on May 25, 2021
The European Union has decided to ban Belarusian airlines from European skies after a flight was diverted to Minsk on Sunday. The move comes after Belarus forced a passenger plane to land in order to arrest an activist journalist.
At a meeting in Brussels, the leaders of the 27 member states also told EU airlines not to fly over Belarus, and promised further economic sanctions.
Following the EU statement, Dutch airline KLM announced it would halt flights over Belarus.
German airline Lufthansa said Monday it would temporarily suspend its flights over Belarus until further notice, along with Latvian airline Air Baltic and Scandinavian airline SAS.
Roman Protasevich, 26, was on a flight from Greece to Lithuania which was rerouted over a supposed bomb threat.
EDITOR: ABIOLA ABERUAGBA
