Belarus Calls on Sweden and Lithuania to Assist with Bear Drop Case

The Belarusian authorities have requested Lithuania and Sweden to help them investigate the invasion of Belarus' airspace by a foreign plane on July 4, the spokesman for the Committee for State Security (KGB) Aliaksandr Antanovich said.

The requests have been sent through the Prosecutor General's Office, Mr. Antanovich said.

The unauthorized flight of the plane piloted by Swedish nationals constituted a violation of the airspace rules of not only Belarus but also Sweden, Lithuania and NATO, he noted.

To ensure impartial investigation, the perpetrators and organizers of the flight should come in Minsk for questioning, as a face-to-face confrontation would be impossible via a video link-up, Mr. Antanovich said when asked whether Belarus would request the Swedish police to question pilots in Sweden.

Belarus' requests for investigative assistance come shortly after the expulsion of Swedish ambassador Stefan Eriksson, which sparked a diplomatic row between the two countries. On Wednesday morning, the Belarusian foreign ministry announced that Belarus had recalled all its embassy staff from Stockholm and told Sweden to withdraw all its diplomats from Minsk by August 30.

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As it was reported previously, two Swedish citizens Thomas Masetti and Hannah Lina Frey took off from Lithuania and illegally penetrated Belarus’ air space on July 4, a day after the Independence Day military parade which was to show country’s military might. They dropped around 1,000 plush teddy bears with supportive pro-free speech banners over two Belarusian cities — Ivianiec and Minsk and then flew back to Lithuania where they landed.

Belarusian officials and ideologists denied the incident and called all footages uploaded by Studio Total fake ones.

The Ministry of Defence of Belarus still assures the footage of the Swedish pilots dropping teddy bears from the plane as a solidarity action is a false and was done using photo and video editors.

The Ministry representatives called the video “a provocation”.

“The incident was 100% provocation against Belarus supported by foreign secret services. Belarusian air force and air defence units did not confirmed violation of Belarusian air side by unidentified planes,” Major General Dzmitry Pakhmielkin, the commander of Belarusian air force and air defence said.

“What the provocation covered by mass media is concerned — a lightweight aircraft which crossed Belarusian border near town Ivianiec — the investigation on the incident has not been finished yet,” the general added.

However, the action of Swedish pilots was somewhat risky as in 1995 an American balloon that accidentally entered Belarusian air side was shot down by Belarusian air defense forces. The two pilots — Alan Frenchel and John Stewart — who participated in an international balloon rally, were killed.

However, it did not stop the pilots from their action as they wanted to support “journalists and dissidents who risk to be imprisoned every day” in Belarus.

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