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European Union Closes Airspace to Belarusian Aircraft

European Union Closes Airspace to Belarusian Aircraft

The European Union decided last night (Monday) to close its airspace to Belarusian aircraft as a punishment for the regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who is accused of diverting a European passenger plane carrying an opposition figure for the purpose of arresting him, according to a spokesperson for the bloc. Leaders of EU countries, meeting in Brussels, also urged European airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace and demanded the "immediate release" of opposition figure Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, according to the summit resolutions published by a spokesperson for the EU, as reported by Agence France-Presse. Many European capitals and airlines had previously blacklisted Belarusian airspace under growing pressure after Minsk intercepted a civilian plane on Sunday, which had the opposition journalist among its passengers.

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