{"id":119369,"date":"2024-12-23T12:07:17","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T09:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/119369\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"official-blames-eu-officials-for-suspended-air-passenger-services","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/119369\/","title":{"rendered":"Official blames EU politicians for suspended air passenger services"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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December 23, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> The European Union’s politicians \u201care not yet interested\u201d in resuming air passenger services with Belarus unlike the bloc\u2019s airlines and aviation authorities, Ihar Ho\u0142ub in charge of the transport ministry’s aviation department told Belarus 1 <\/em>yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe hope that these hotheads will cool down a little bit and will be willing to hear out our head of state and other officials,” he said, noting that Minsk hopes to resume air traffic and expand business activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hit by international sanctions, the Belarusian flagship airline Bie\u0142avia operates flights to 10 countries, such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, India, Armenia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, the UAE and Turkmenistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU banned it from its airports following the May 2021 Ryanair Flight 4978 forced landing. Belarusian security officers cited a false bomb threat to divert the passenger aircraft to Minsk and arrest prominent journalist Raman Pratasievi\u010d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incident has not been properly investigated because Belarusian officials denied international experts access to key evidence and witnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Civil Aviation Organization Council determined that the bomb threat against Ryanair Flight 4978 \u201cwas deliberately false and endangered its safety, and furthermore that the threat was communicated to the flight crew upon the instructions of senior government officials of Belarus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs neither a bomb nor evidence of its existence was found during pre-departure screening in Athens Greece and after various searches of the aircraft in Belarus and Lithuania, it is considered that the bomb threat was deliberately false. Knowingly communicating false information which endangers the safety of an aircraft in flight is an offence under Article 1 (1) (e) of the Montr\u00e9al Convention,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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