NTV: Teddy bears play cat and mouse with Lukashenka (Video)

NTV, a Russian TV channel, returned to the theme of the teddy bear 'assault'.

The Ministry of Defence of Belarus confirms a foreign aircraft intruded illegally into the country's airspace. The plane carried hundreds of teddy bears with pro-free speech leaflets, which were dropped near Minsk. The aircraft was piloted by two Swedish nationals. The Belarusian KGB insistingly invites them to appear in Belarus for questioning and guarantee them inviolability. The pilots do not believe the promises being ready to talk only in their country or via the Internet. An NTV correspondent chose the latter option.

Development of a scandal over teddy bears resembles a cat-and-mouse game more and more. The Belarusian Security Committee (KGB) offered the Swedish pilots to come to Minsk for face-to-face confrontations. The pilots agreed, but later changed their mind.

Per Cromwell, the director of the PR agency that organized the teddy bear attack, confirmed the pilots would not come to Minsk. The mastermind behind the teddy bear attack explains it's not safe in Belarus.

“Taking into account how rights of Belarusians citizens are being infringed on, we understand the law does not work in this country,” he says.

A photographer and an estate agent are waiting in the KGB jail for their destiny to be settled. Face-to-face confrontations with the pilots may say if they were involved in the teddy bear stunt or not.

Even if teddy bear attack participants agree to come, it will be rather hard for them to receive Belarusian visas. The diplomatic relations between the countries were in fact broken off after closing embassies. Though Belarus continues to insist the teddy bear attack has no relation to diplomacy, European politicians threaten to impose new sanctions on Minsk also over the arrests in the “teddy bear case”. The EU is expected to discuss the sanctions issue by October 31.