This is stated in a statement on the government’s website. The ban will take effect on May 29.
Earlier, Ukraine was one of the first to ban Belarusian airlines from accepting planes at its airports, after which similar decisions were made by other countries. This is a reaction to the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk and an opposition blogger arrest.
Ukraine’s initiative should be supported by the EU Council – to ban Belarusian airlines from airspace – both in transit and to EU airports.
It will be recalled that on May 23, the Belarusian authorities lifted a MiG-29 fighter into the air to land a Ryanair Boeing Co. 737-800. Roman Protasevych, a 26-year-old Belarusian opposition journalist was on board the plane, which covered protests in Belarus on the NEXTA telegram channel. The formal reason for the landing was allegedly a report of a plane being mined.
In the EU, the situation has been called a state-sponsored act of piracy and kidnapping.