Reactions to the Ryanair flight diversion
The EU, NATO and the US have reacted to the interception of the Ryanair flight by Minsk authorities
Eugen Coroianu, 24.05.2021, 13:50
A
totally unacceptable action, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs,
Josep Borrell, said on Sunday after news hit the media that Minsk authorities
forced a Ryanair flight to land. The aircraft flying from Athens to Vilnius was
intercepted while crossing Belarusian airspace by a military fighter jet and forced
to land over an alleged bomb threat. No explosive device was ever found on
board, and the real reason for the flight diversion was the detention of Roman Protasevich,
an opponent of Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. Aged 26, Protasevich previously worked
for Nexta, a media outlet on the frontline of the wave of protests sparked by
Lukashenko’s reelection in 2020. Last year, Belarus’s secret intelligence put Roman
Protasevich on the list of people involved in terrorist actions. Protasevich
was placed under arrest after getting off the plane.
EU Commissioner for Transport,
Adina Vălean, spoke about this unprecedented incident, which she says will have
consequences. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in turn condemned the flight
diversion and called for Protasevich’s immediate release, saying this shocking
act perpetrated by the Lukashenko regime endangered the lives of more than 120
passengers. We stand with the Belarusian people in their aspirations for a
free, democratic, and prosperous future and support their call for the regime
to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, Secretary Blinken also said.
In turn, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg described the action as a
serious and dangerous incident, demanding an international inquiry. The Romanian
Foreign Ministry also expressed its deep concern with what it called an inadmissible
undertaking of Belarusian authorities which it firmly condemned. No Romanian passenger
was onboard. Several European governments on Sunday condemned Belarus’s action.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says the gesture is an act of state
terrorism and demanded immediate sanctions. The diversion of the Ryanair
flight by Belarusian authorities is unacceptable. It is key Europeans respond firmly
and consistently, the French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on
Sunday. Lithuania’s president, Gitanas Nauseda described the action as abhorrent
and has granted Roman Protasevich refugee status. Lithuanian prosecutors have
launched a criminal investigation into a possible terrorist high-jacking and
the ill-treatment of people with the breach of international regulations. (VP)
