MINSK, 2 June (BelTA) - Belarus intends to ask the ICAO Council to assess the legality of the actions of Ukraine and other states that have imposed bans and restrictions on the use of their airspace, BelTA learned from the Aviation Department at the Transport Ministry of Belarus.
“Belarus intends to ask the ICAO Council to assess the legality of the actions of Ukraine and other states that unilaterally, in violation of international obligations, have imposed bans and restrictions on the use of their airspace for Belarusian air carriers, to consider ensuring uniform approaches to handling identical incidents and to give legal characterization of Ukraine's threat to use force in respect of a Belarusian civilian aircraft in 2016,” the department said.
Ukraine's unilateral decision to restrict the use of its airspace for Belarusian aircraft violates the provisions of the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944 and the 1995 Belarus-Ukraine intergovernmental agreement on air traffic which prohibits discrimination against foreign aircraft on the ground of nationality, the department stated.
"This restriction, which is detrimental to the Belarusian airline Belavia and those using its services, was imposed without preliminary negotiations to resolve possible differences, which is also a violation of the international legal obligations by Ukraine towards Belarus," the ministry said.
The department recalled the incidents with a Siberia Airlines plane shot down by the Ukrainian air defense forces during the exercise in 2001, a Malaysia Airlines plane shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014, and also the threat to use military force against a Belavia aircraft in 2016. “Given these incidents, doubts arise as to the sufficiency of Ukraine's efforts to ensure flight safety and aviation security and also its objective and non-politicized stance towards Belarus. In this regard, the Belarusian aviation authorities do not recommend foreign air carriers to use the airspace of Ukraine," the statement reads.
“When a Ryanair jet made an emergency landing in Berlin because of a bomb alert, Ukraine and a number of other states kept silent, which raises questions as to the impartiality and integrity of their assessment of the Ryanair flight FR4978 landing on 23 May,” the department said.
