BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

25/05/2006

Belarus to ban Canadian, U.S. flights from airspace

CBC News

Weeks after Ottawa refused to let a plane from Belarus stop for refuelling, the former Soviet state plans to ban Canadian and U.S. flights over its territory.

Canada and the United States pay roughly $200,000 to Belarus each year for the use of its airspace.

On April 20, a plane carrying Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky was on its way to Cuba for an official visit when both Canada and the United States refused to let it land and refuel. Ottawa cited human rights concerns.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced the ban on Thursday, after it was proposed this week by President Alexander Lukashenko.

* FROM APRIL 20, 2006: Ottawa denies Belarusian plane right to land

"Belarus strictly observes symmetry in adopting any sort of retaliatory measures," a foreign ministry spokesman, Andrei Popov, told a news conference.

"These restrictions will apply only to two countries: the United States and Canada."

Popov said it hasn't been decided whether to ban all Canadian and American flights or only flights carrying official delegations.

It's not clear how many flights would be affected by the move. Canada and the United States pay roughly $200,000 to Belarus each year for the use of its airspace, west of Russia and north of Ukraine.

Stopover refused because of crackdowns

Ottawa refused to let the plane land on April 20 because of concerns about "the current regime's commitment to democratization and human rights," a foreign affairs spokeswoman, Pamela Greenwell, said at the time.

Lukashenko has come under increased international criticism following his controversial election win in March and subsequent crackdown on protests against the vote, which critics claim was rigged.

Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested since Lukashenko's victory. The European Union has called on governments around the world to refuse to recognize the vote.

In early April, a Canadian journalist spent 15 days in prison while covering an anti-Lukashenko demonstration.

"In light of these concerns, we were not prepared to facilitate the entry of senior-level representatives of the Belarusian regime onto Canadian soil," Greenwell told CBC News Online.

Greenwell said she didn't know what alternate arrangements the plane made in order to land safely. The Cuban newspaper Granma said the plane had been carrying Sidorsky and a number of other government officials.

Source:

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/05/25/belarus-canada.html