Russian airline Aeroflot does not rule out going to court after Bloomberg reported that the EU is preparing sanctions against the carrier due to the migration crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border.
Information about the participation or assistance of Aeroflot in the organization of mass transportation of migrants to the territory of the Republic of Belarus does not reflect reality, the airline said in a statement, TASS reports.
"Information about the threat of imposition of sanctions may have a significant negative impact on the operating, financial activities of the company, its capitalization. Aeroflot intends to protect the interests of the company and its shareholders in all possible legal ways, in particular, it reserves the right to judicial protection of the company’s interests," Aeroflot said in the statement.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported, citing an unnamed EU official that the European Union is considering the possibility of imposing sanctions against Aeroflot in early December due to the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border. According to the news agency, in addition to Aeroflot, Turkish Airlines can also fall under the sanctions. The European Union believes that these companies are engaged in transporting migrants from the Middle East to Minsk, who then try to cross the Polish border. It is still unclear what these sanctions can imply and when the final decision on their introduction will be made.
The migrant crisis on the border of Belarus with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland deteriorated dramatically on November 8. Several thousand people approached the Polish border from the Belarusian side and have set up camp in the border zone. Some of them have tried to cross into Poland by cutting razor wire fences. The European Union is accusing Minsk of intentionally escalating the crisis and has called for sanctions. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko blamed the situation on Western countries themselves, since it was their actions that had prompted people to flee the war in their homelands.
Aeroflot's position
"Information about the participation or assistance of Aeroflot in the organization of mass transportation of migrants to the territory of the Republic of Belarus does not reflect reality," the airline said.
An official with the airline explained that the company operates neither regular or charter flights to the cities of Iraq and Syria, nor flights on the Istanbul - Minsk route. As for transit, there were no Syrian or Iraqi citizens traveling to Belarus via third countries.
"The transit movement of citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria through the territory of the Russian Federation to the territory of the Republic of Belarus is difficult, since it requires obtaining Russian transit visas.
In the period from October 1 to November 10 of 2012, in accordance with the current visa rules, 19 passengers went from Beirut to Minsk using transit through Sheremetyevo airport. Transit passengers - citizens of Syria and Iraq, traveling to Minsk from other destinations, such as Tashkent, Istanbul, Dubai, were not registered," the company noted.
