22/07/2022 (Agence Europe) – The Council of the EU decided on Wednesday, 20 July to lift the sanctions imposed on 2 December last year on Syrian private airline Cham Wings (see EUROPE 12845/14). The company had been accused of increasing the number of flights to Minsk in the summer of 2021 to transport migrants that are seeking to cross from Belarus to the EU illegally. “We have successfully refuted all accusations and allegations against us” said Cham Wings’ Director of Business Development, Osama Satea, to AFP. The airline’s flights to Minsk were suspended in November 2021. However, “the lifting of EU sanctions does not mean that we are allowed to land at European airports and there are currently no direct flights between Syria and European countries”, added Satea, whose company mainly operates flights to destinations in the Arab world, Tehran and Moscow. (TM)