Belarus faces sanctions backlash over jetliner ‘state piracy’
Belarusian blogger Roman Protasevich, detained when a Ryanair plane was forced to land in Minsk, is seen in a pre-trial detention facility, as he says, in Minsk, Belarus May 24, 2021 in this still image taken from video. Telegram@Zheltyeslivy/Reuters TV/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.
May 24, 2021
By Sabine Siebold and Matthias Williams
BRUSSELS/KYIV (Reuters) -Western powers prepared to pile sanctions on Belarus and cut off its aviation links on Monday, furious after it scrambled a warplane to intercept a Ryanair aircraft and arrest a dissident journalist, an act one leader denounced as ‘state piracy’.
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BRUSSELS/KYIV (Reuters) Western powers prepared to pile sanctions on Belarus and cut off its aviation links on Monday, furious after it scrambled a warplane to intercept a Ryanair aircraft and arrest a dissident journalist, an act one official denounced as state piracy .
In a video posted online, the detained blogger, Roman Protasevich, 26, said he was in good health, being held in a pretrial detention facility in Minsk, and acknowledged having played a role in organizing mass disturbances in the capital last year.
By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland’s government on Tuesday supported a parliamentary motion condemning the “de facto annexation” of Palestinian land by Israeli authorities in what it said was the first use of the phrase by a European Union government in relation to Israel.
FILE PHOTO: Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney speaks at the launch of his party s manifesto for the Irish General Election in Dublin, Ireland January 24, 2020. REUTERS/Lorraine O Sullivan
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, who has represented Ireland on the United Nations Security Council in debates on Israel in recent weeks, supported the motion, and condemned what he described as Israel’s “manifestly unequal” treatment of the Palestinian people.
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Simon Coveney, Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, met with Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, and Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Advisor, at Shannon Airport in Co Clare on May 24.
Coveney said he had a very warm meeting with NSA Sullivan which included discussions of Brexit, EU-US relations, the recent Ryanair incident in Belarus, and, of course, Sullivan s family in Skibbereen.
Had a very warm meeting with US National Security Adviser @JakeSullivan46 tonight in @ShannonAirport - covered #Brexit, NI, MEPP, #Syria, #Belarus, EU/US relations, Cyber, bilateral relations & of course his family in Skibbereen.
Not long after, Coveney said in another tweet that it was great to meet Secretary Blinken. He said the duo discussed Brexit, EU-US relations, the Iran Nuclear Deal, and the Ryanair incident in Belarus.