Finnish Foreign Minister - RBC: "There are many areas where we need dialogue"

On Friday, June 4, the European Union decided to ban Belarusian carriers from using its airspace. The reason for the ban was the incident with the landing of the Irish airline Ryanair on May 23 in MINSK. At the same time, President of Belarus ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO earlier promised to coordinate with Moscow his response to the expected sanctions of the West.

In addition, at the end of May, discussions took place in the European Union on strategic approaches to relations with Russia, as a result of which the EU member states decided not to take new drastic steps, confirming the five principles of the EU policy towards Russia, approved in 2016.

Foreign Minister of Finland (part of the EU since 1995) Pekka Haavisto answered RBC's questions about the consequences of the incident with Ryanair, the prospects for bilateral relations and the degree of military threat from Russia.

On the EU reaction to the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk and the detention of Roman Protasevich

“The events that took place on May 23, 2021 pose a serious risk to aviation security around the world. it is unacceptable that an aircraft performing a regular flight is forced to land in the airspace of any country due to the fact that among the passengers there are people who support the opposition. From the point of view of international civil aviation, it is necessary that passengers, airlines and States can have confidence in the safety of aviation. By its own action, Belarus has caused enormous harm to itself. Finland announced this to Belarus on a bilateral basis as well.