EC does not mention Aeroflot in relation with migrant crisis

BRUSSELS, Nov 12 (PRIME) -- The European Commission (EC) did not mention Russian national flagship carrier Aeroflot among the airlines to discuss transportation of migrants to Belarus, the commission’s spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker said in a news briefing on Friday.

“We’ve had several contacts with several airlines, including FlyDubai, Turkish Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, Air Arabia, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, Middle East Airlines, Oman Air, IRAQI Airways, and EgyptAir. These are the airlines with which we’ve had contacts,” he said.

On Thursday, Bloomberg reported quoting a source familiar with the matter that the E.U. was discussing sanctions for several foreign airlines, including Aeroflot and Turkish Airlines, over the migrant crisis on the border of Belarus and Poland. Aeroflot denied any involvement in transportation of migrants.

Previously, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that Minsk refused to hold the flow of migrants and refugees to the E.U. any longer for the lack of funds because of the sanctions imposed by the West. Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland registered an increase of detains of illegal migrants at their borders with Belarus, and Poland even had to introduce an emergency regime at its border.

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