EU cuts air links with Belarus over forced plane landing as Roman Protasevich appears under duress
State television broadcast video of dissident journalist - with dark markings visible on his face - confessing to organising mass unrest
25 May 2021 • 8:01am
EU leaders agreed to cut air links with Belarus on Monday, as leader Alexander Lukashenko s regime paraded a dissident journalist arrested after his flight was forced to land in Minsk.
Strongman Lukashenko sparked international outrage by dispatching a fighter jet Sunday to intercept a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius carrying wanted reporter Roman Protasevich, 26, and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega.
European leaders meeting in Brussels hit back by agreeing to ban Belarusian airlines from the bloc s airspace and urged EU-based carriers not to fly over its airspace, while US president overnight sharply condemned Belarus.
EU cuts air links with Belarus over forced plane landing Toggle share menu
Advertisement
EU cuts air links with Belarus over forced plane landing
A Ryanair aircraft, which was carrying Belarusian opposition blogger and activist Roman Protasevich and diverted to Belarus, where authorities detained him, lands at Vilnius Airport in Vilnius, Lithuania on May 23, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS/Andrius Sytas)
25 May 2021 09:05AM (Updated:
25 May 2021 09:10AM) Share this content
Bookmark
BRUSSELS: European Union leaders cut Europe s air links with Belarus on Monday (May 24), as strongman Alexander Lukashenko s regime paraded a dissident journalist arrested after his flight was forced to land in Minsk.
Lukashenko sparked international outrage by dispatching a fighter jet on Sunday to intercept a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius carrying wanted reporter Roman Protasevich, 26, and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega.
Sanctions on Belarus over Ryanair Diversion 25 May 2021
Following the diversion of the Ryanair flight over Belarus, The European Union on Monday called on all E.U.- based airlines to stop flying over Belarus.
Moreover, EU countries will start banning Belarusian airlines from flying over the bloc’s airspace or landing in its airports.
In addition to EU countries, Ukraine has also suspended air travel with Belarus and ordered Ukrainian airlines and planes to avoid Belarusian airspace,
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal announced on May 25.
Belarus forced the landing of a commercial Ryanair flight between Greece and Lithuania to Minsk. The Ryanair plane on Sunday is intercepted by a MiG-29 fighter jet under orders from
The United Nations Security Council will hold a behind-closed-doors meeting on Wednesday over the diversion of a Ryanair plane to Belarus and the subsequent arrest of a journalist, Euronews has learned.
Several diplomats said the meeting, which will be virtual, was demanded by France, Ireland and Estonia.
France is a permanent member of the security council along with the United States, United Kingdom, China, and Russia. Ireland and Estonia are non-permanent members this year.
It comes after European Union leaders agreed on a set of sanctions to be laid against Belarus, including banning its airlines from using the bloc s airspace and airports.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the parliament that London would consider a proposal on imposing restrictions against two gas pipelines in the wake of the incident with the Ryanair jet