Seven countries side with EU decision to close skies for Belarusian airlines — EU Council

Seven non-EU countries sided with the European Union’s decision to close their airspace for Belarusian air carriers, press service of the EU Council said in its statement on Monday.

"The Council Decision decided to strengthen the existing restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus by introducing a ban on the overflight of EU airspace and on access to EU airports by Belarusian carriers of all kinds," the statement says.

"The Candidate Countries the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this Council Decision," the press service said.

"They will ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision," the press service added. "The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it," it said.

Earlier on Monday, the EU Council at the foreign ministers level approved the fourth package of individual packages against 86 individuals and legal entities and reached an agreement to impose economic sanctions on seven economic sectors of the country, including potash and petrochemicals export and the financial sector. Economic sanctions are subject to final approval at the EU Summit on June 24-25 and will become effective after that.