Most European countries have virtually cut off air communication with Belarus over the arrest of a dissident journalist after a plane was diverted from mid-air. In this situation, Russia came to the side of the ally Belarus.In retaliation, Moscow has denied entry to Russia by two European airlines.
Russia's refusal to do so has forced Air France and Austrian Airlines to cancel flights with the country, the BBC reported on Friday.On Sunday, Belarusian security forces diverted a Ryanair flight from Athens, Greece to Lithuania, to Minsk. This was done with false information that a bomb had been planted on the plane. The plane landed at an airport in Minsk, guarded by a Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jet. Shortly after the landing, Belarusian security forces arrested Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia, a passenger on the flight and a fierce critic of the Belarussian government.The Western world has called the incident a "hijacking." Leaders of the European Union (EU) held an emergency meeting on Monday to take strong action against Belarus' unprecedented move. After a meeting in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, the leaders of the 28-nation alliance agreed not to fly any of the alliance's airlines through Belarus.At the same time, they called on member states to suspend Belarus' state-owned airlines from operating flights to European countries.
Shortly after the announcement, French airline Air France said it would not fly any aircraft using Belarusian airspace until further notice. Finnish Airlines Finair also made a similar announcement.Air France's Dutch affiliate KLM, Germany's state-owned airline Lufthansa, and airlines operating in Scandinavian countries have announced that they will follow the same path. Singapore Airlines has also announced that it will avoid Belarus airspace.
Meanwhile, Poland's national airline Lot said it had suspended all flights with Minsk, in addition to avoiding Belarus airspace.Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has said all airlines in his country have canceled all flights with Belarus.The move by European countries has left Belarus's aviation system almost paralyzed. The country is unable to operate any flights to major European cities. In response, Belarus's close ally Russia Air France and Austrian Airlines canceled flights. As a result, Air France canceled at least four flights between Paris and Moscow.As a result, some passengers have bought tickets for Russian Airlines Aeroflot as an alternative to Moscow. And two flights of Austrian Airlines have been canceled.
A passenger flight from Vienna to Moscow. The other is freight. It was supposed to come to Vienna via Russia with goods from Nanjing, China.The Austrian Foreign Ministry said Russia's move was "absolutely unacceptable." And the French Ministry of Transportation told the AFP news agency that mutual policies must be respected.
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