OREANDA-NEWS. The EU needs to tighten restrictions on the Belarusian airline Belavia. Latvian Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevich announced this to journalists before the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers.

"It is necessary to introduce stricter sanctions, given that President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko continues to use migration as a hybrid weapon ... This means that restrictions should also be imposed on so-called travel companies that organize flights. I also believe that we need to completely bring Belavia under the sanctions so that it cannot receive any assistance. This means more sanctions, "Rinkevich said.

The head of the department believes that it is necessary to find ways to stop flights to Belarus.

"The sanctions on Belavia are one thing. And another thing is that we need to send a signal to the airlines, which are now bringing people to Belarus with the intention of migrating, that they are under European supervision, that they are not doing well," the Foreign Minister noted.

Some airlines decided to fly bypassing the airspace of Belarus. The EU has banned the use of the airspace and airports of the union by the aircraft of the Belarusian air carriers. In May, Ukraine stopped air traffic with Belarus and closed the airspace for Belarusian aircraft. ICAO has launched an investigation into the incident.