Belarus faces sanctions over state piracy , airlines to shun it netscape.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from netscape.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Article by
Belarus ordered a Ryanair Holdings Plc flight transiting its airspace to land and arrested a journalist on board. (Reuters) Social Share
BRUSSELS – Several airlines said on Monday they would avoid Belarusian airspace after Belarus scrambled a warplane to intercept a Ryanair jetliner and arrest a dissident journalist in an act denounced by Western powers as “state piracy”.
European Union leaders meeting on Monday evening were set to ban Belarussian airlines from their bloc’s airspace and call on EU-based carriers to avoid flying over the former Soviet republic, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters.
The leaders of the 27 member states will also consider widening the list of Belarussian individuals they already sanction and call on the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to urgently investigate Sunday’s incident, when Belarus forced a Ryanair plane to land.
Belarus secret police were on diverted jet
It appears the intent of the authorities was to remove a journalist and his travelling companion, said O Leary H. J. I. / AFP
prije 2 sata
RYANAIR CEO
Belarus secret police were on diverted jet
Dublin-headquartered Ryanair is renowned for ultra low-cost, short-haul flights across the continental bloc
Foto: Agencies
Belarus secret police are believed to have been present when a dissident journalist was detained when his plane was diverted to Minsk, the head of the Irish airline said on Monday.
Roman Protasevich was held on Sunday after a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was intercepted by a Belarusian fighter jet and diverted to the capital of Minsk, state TV reported.