European apology not enough: Morales
Bolivian President Evo Morales says an apology from European countries over the diversion of his plane is not enough.
“A simple apology from a country that didn’t let us enter its territory is not enough. A lot will depend on the legal and political debate,” Morales said on Thursday, ahead of a meeting of Latin American leaders in Cochabamba, Bolivia, over the issue, which sparked an international outcry against the European states, which put the Bolivian leader™s life in danger on Tuesday.
France, Spain, Portugal and Italy refused to allow Morales’ plane, which was flying from Moscow back to Bolivia, to cross their airspace due to false rumors that US surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board.
œThe decisions of these countries have violated international law…. We are already making procedures to denounce this to the UN secretary general,” Bolivian Ambassador to the UN Sacha Llorenti told reporters in Geneva on Wednesday.
Llorenti added that the diversion was an œact of aggression” against his country, and was equal to œkidnapping” the Bolivian president.
He also warned that the move might cause œirreparable damage” to diplomatic relations with the European states.
Morales’ plane was forced to land in Austria en route to Bolivia. The aircraft left Vienna after a stopover of more than 12 hours.
Before departing for the summit in Bolivia, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said on Thursday, “Latin America has to react.”
œImagine for one second if this had happened with a European president or the US president — it probably would’ve been grounds for war. And here they think they can infringe and crush international law,” he added.
The Bolivian president was in Moscow to attend a meeting of natural gas-producing nations.
Bolivia is one of the countries to which Snowden has applied for asylum.
Washington has asked Ecuador, Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia not to provide asylum to Snowden.
“While we were flying (home), the US government gave our foreign ministry a scrap of paper asking for the extradition of this young man, Snowden,” said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who also attending the energy conference in Russia.
“They don’t have the moral standing to demand the extradition of a young man who was alerting to the illegality with which the Pentagon, the CIA and the US act,” Maduro said on Thursday.
GJH/HN
Republished with permission from: Press TV
Source: http://rinf.com/alt-news/breaking-news/european-apology-not-enough-morales/47870/
