South African minister turned back at airport security
The South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation is a bit miffed these days, after being turned back from the security
checkpoint at Oslo, Norway’s Gardermoen international airport (OSL), and asked to leave the airport.
The minister was to board an Austrian Airlines flight from OSL, and was asked to surrender her handbag for x-ray inspection (just like every other passenger), and refused to do this. The reason for the refusal, she proclaimed, was that she was a foreign dignitary with diplomatic immunity, and shouldn’t have to be subjected to the security procedures.
Naturally, the officers manning the Norwegian checkpoint weren’t about to let this slide, and the minister was promptly, firmly and effectively denied entry into the “clean” area of the airport. The minister was described as short-tempered and agitated while she tried to pass the checkpoint, and this is also the reason why she was asked to leave the airport entirely.
It’s important to note that the minister was not alone – she was part of a delegation, and that she was the only one who felt it necessary to refuse to submit to the security procedure, leaving unanswered questions as to why that would be so in her wake. Refusing the procedure and acting out in public like this is hardly a civilized way of doing things, and one would think a minister would know this.
Airport authorities and the Civil Aviation Authority in Norway have spoken out on behalf of the security officers, underlining the fact that they did everything right in this situation. The minister is indeed a foreign dignitary, but that does not give her the right to refuse security screening – only heads of state are allowed to circumvent the screening. She is by no means a head of state.
The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation in South Africa have said that it is unfortunate that this incident was to occur as the closing of a state visit, and claim that the checkpoint officers violated the Vienna Convention by infringing on the minister’s diplomatic immunity. This is not the case, however, since EU regulations support the decisions of the checkpoint officers, and both foreign and domestic ministers and secretaries are subected to screening when they are flying out.
The ordeal ended with the minister booking a private flight from the so-called GA terminal at the airport. Cost? $32,000.00 USD.
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