Some considerations on the restrictive measures adopted by the European Union against Belarus. Judgment of the General Court of the European Union in T-536/21 | Belaeronavigatsia v. Council

JURISPRUDENȚA CURȚII DE JUSTIȚIE A UNIUNII EUROPENE

Abstract

Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) - Restrictive measures against Belarus. Diversion of Ryanair flight on 23 May 2021 in Minsk. Interpretation of the notion of person responsible for the repression of civil society and democratic opposition in Belarus.

One of the instruments the European Union can use to promote the objectives of its Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is restrictive measures. With regard to Belarus in particular, the European Union has, since 2004, adopted restrictive measures in view of the situation in that country with regard to democracy, the rule of law and human rights. In view of the forced and illegal landing of a Ryanair flight FR4978 in Minsk, Belarus, on 23 May 2021, the Council decided to impose restrictive measures against, inter alia, Belaeronavigatsia, the Belarusian state enterprise in charge of airspace regulation and air traffic assistance in Belarus, on the grounds that it was responsible for the diversion on 23 May 2021 of Ryanair flight FR4978 at Minsk airport without adequate justification. In the action for annulment brought by Belaeronavigatsia against those measures adopted against it, the General Court was called upon, for the first time, to interpret the concept of a person 'responsible for repression' within the meaning of Article 4(1)(a) of Decision 2012/642 and Article 2(4) of Regulation No 765/2006 in the context of the restrictive measures adopted in the light of the situation in Belarus.

Keywords: Belaeronavigatsia v. Council, restrictive measures, Belarus, European Union, Common Foreign and Security Policy.