Prime Minister Janez Janša met Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Eduard Heger, prior to the special meeting of the European Council. During their talks, the discussion partners spoke about the management of the COVID-19 situation and the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council.
Following his meeting with his Slovakian counterpart, the Prime Minister attended the special meeting of the European Council. During the evening part of the meeting, the EU leaders particularly addressed relations with Russia, and with the UK following the entry into force of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement as of 1 May 2021. The leaders also exchanged views on the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk and adopted the following conclusions:
The European Council strongly condemns the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk, Belarus, on 23 May 2021, which endangered aviation safety, and the detention by the Belarus authorities of journalist Raman Pratasevich and Sofia Sapega. The European Council:
- demands the immediate release of Raman Pratasevich and Sofia Sapega and that their freedom of movement be guaranteed;
- calls on the International Civil Aviation Organisation to immediately investigate this unparalleled and unacceptable incident;
- invites the Council to adopt additional listings of persons and entities as soon as possible on the basis of the relevant sanctions framework;
- calls on the Council to adopt further targeted economic sanctions and invites the High Representative and the Commission to submit proposals without delay to this end;
- calls on all EU-based carriers to avoid overflights of Belarus;
- calls on the Council to adopt the necessary measures to ban overflights of EU airspace by Belarus airlines and prevent access to EU airports of flights operated by such airlines;
- stands in solidarity with Latvia following the unjustified expulsion of Latvian diplomats.
The European Council will continue to monitor this matter closely
Ukom
