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SWEDISH TEDDY BEAR DROP

HUMAN RIGHTS

Lithuania to probe Swedish teddy-drop stunt

Lithuanian prosecutors said Thursday they had launched an official probe into a stunt by Swedish activists who flew a plane into Belarus from Lithuania to drop hundreds of "freedom teddy bears."

Published: 16 August 2012 13:38 CEST
Lithuania to probe Swedish teddy-drop stunt

“The investigation was launched over illegal crossing of the state border and violation of international flight regulations,” prosecutors in the Baltic EU state said in a press release.

Border guards will conduct the probe and look into the July 4 flight, orchestrated by a Swedish advertising agency.

The plane dropped hundreds of teddy bears attached to little parachutes carrying signs calling for freedom of speech and human rights in Belarus, a move that infuriated the government in Minsk.

Last week, Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko demanded that Vilnius investigate the incident. Minsk also announced it was expelling all Swedish diplomats and closing its embassy in Stockholm.

Lithuania, which joined NATO and the EU in 2004, summoned the Belarus ambassador Tuesday, warning the move could further worsen relations with the European Union.

Meanwhile, the team at Studio Total, the PR firm behind the teddy bear drop, has so far not had a response from President Lukashenko after inviting him to their house in County Skåne, southern Sweden.

The agency’s offer followed a summons from the KGB which demanded the team come to Minsk for interrogation.

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LUFTHANSA

UPDATE: Germany-Russia flights resume after tit-for-tat cancellations

Airline companies said flights between Germany and Russia had resumed Wednesday evening, after each country blocked the other's incoming flights as part of the fall-out from tensions over Belarus.

Published: 2 June 2021 19:44 CEST
Updated: 2 June 2021 22:59 CEST
UPDATE: Germany-Russia flights resume after tit-for-tat cancellations
Lufthansa flights await takeoff at Munich Airport. Photo: Christof Stache/AFP

German airline Lufthansa told AFP that the Russian authorities had finally granted it clearance for passenger flights to Russia in June.

“That means Lufthansa flights to Moscow and Saint Petersburg can be operated as planned,” said a spokeswoman for the airline.

In Russia, Mikhail Poluboyarinov, chief executive of Aeroflot told the TASS news agency: “Everything is fine, we have received all the authorisations.”

And another Russian airline, S7, said it too had received clearance for its flights to Germany, the Ria Novosti agency reported.

Earlier Wednesday, Germany’s transport ministry said it had blocked flights operated by Russian airlines from arriving in its territory after Moscow failed to provide authorisations for Lufthansa.

Two Russia-bound Lufthansa flights due to depart earlier Wednesday from Germany had been cancelled because Russian authorities did not provide the necessary permits for them in time, the ministry said.

“Due to the reciprocal practice, the Federal Aviation Authority also did not issue any further permits for flights operated by Russian airlines as long as authorisations are pending on the Russian side,” it added.

Three Aeroflot flights were affected by the cancellations on Tuesday and another four on Wednesday, the ministry said.

“Once permits for Lufthansa flights are granted by the Russian site, the flights of Russian airlines will also be authorised,” it added.

Previous cancellations

Neither the ministry nor the airlines concerned mentioned the reason for the flights being blocked.

But some flights operated by European airlines including Air France and Austrian Airlines — a subsidiary of Lufthansa — were cancelled last week after Moscow rejected flight plans that would have skipped Belarusian airspace.

Lufthansa has confirmed that it is no longer flying over Belarus after the EU urged airlines to avoid the country’s airspace.

READ ALSO: Germany summons Belarus envoy over forced Ryanair landing

The EU’s advice came after the Belarusian regime forced the diversion of a Ryanair Athens-Vilnius plane to Minsk in order to arrest an opposition journalist on board.

Moscow last week said the cancellation of several European flights to Moscow was down to “technical reasons”.

Eurocontrol, which coordinates air traffic control in the EU, said flights between Europe and Russia “have permission to use defined air corridors.

“If one company changes these routes, there has to be prior agreement between the company concerned and Russia.”

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