MINSK, 2 April (BelTA) – The Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has thanked its Belarusian colleagues and the Belarusian air carrier Belavia for bringing more than 70 Swedish citizens home, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Belarus' Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei had a phone conversation with his Swedish counterpart Ann Linde on 2 April. “The Swedish minister for foreign affairs thanked Vladimir Makei, the Belavia air carrier and the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for helping more than 70 Swedish nationals return to Sweden from Turkey. The parties also commended close and efficient cooperation between the two countries in bringing their citizens back home,” the ministry noted.
Vladimir Makei and Ann Linde stressed the importance of solidarity and joint efforts in fighting against the COVID-19 outbreak and preventing long-term negative effects of the pandemic on international trade and relations between countries. The parties discussed prospects for the development of bilateral cooperation and interaction within the Eastern Partnership as well as the situation in the region.
On 31 March, a chartered flight operated by Belavia flew more than 70 citizens of Sweden from Istanbul to Stockholm via Minsk. Turkey suspended all international flights from 28 March, but the parties reached an agreement to organize a flight Istanbul-Minsk to evacuate foreign nationals. Belarus provided an aircraft with the largest seating capacity, and Belavia operated a chartered flight Minsk-Stockholm..
