EU pressure on Minsk-bound airlines is bearing fruit

The European Commission has established contacts with various airlines in an effort to cut the Minsk-facilitated migration route, the EU executive said on Friday (12 November) as several airlines confirmed they will restrict certain practices that could benefit human trafficking, reports EURACTIV.com.

In recent days, the EU has been in talks with international carriers such as Turkish Airlines to urge them to suspend one-way tickets to Minsk, from where the bloc says migrants are transported to the Polish border as a means to pressure the EU.

The development comes as EU foreign ministers are set to agree on a new round of sanctions while the bloc is exploring options for how to stop Belarusian state-owned airline Belavia from leasing aircraft from companies including Ireland's AerCap and Denmark's Nordic Aviation Capital.

Belavia is likely to be hit by the EU's next sanctions package. The airline said on Friday it would stop allowing citizens of Iraq, Syria, and Yemen to board flights from Turkey to Belarus at the request of Turkish authorities.

"In line with a decision by the … Turkish authorities, citizens of Iraq, Syria, Yemen will not be accepted for transportation on flights from Turkey to Belarus from 12.11.2021," it said in a statement on its website.

According to several EU diplomats, the EU is however unlikely to move against Aeroflot, Turkish Airlines or others at this point.

At the same time, Turkish Airlines, one of the main international carriers flying to Minsk, has agreed to suspend one-way ticket sales for Middle Eastern migrants seeking to reach Europe via Belarus, the European Commission said on Friday.