Brussels, 23 May, LETA – AFP. Senior officials of the European Union (EU) warned Belarus on Sunday that it would be responsible for the safety of all passengers on Ryanair’s plane abducted in Minsk, and called for their immediate release.
The plane, which was on its way from Athens to Vilnius on Sunday, had to change course in Belarusian airspace near the Lithuanian border and go to Minsk, where Belarusian criminal police detained one of its passengers – a member of the staff of opposition leader Sviatlan Cihanoouska, editor Roman Protasevich, who is facing the death penalty in Belarus.
According to the press service of Minsk Airport, the plane with 120 passengers had to land in the capital of Belarus due to a report that a bomb had been hidden there. Opposition officials, on the other hand, report that the plane was apparently boarded by employees of the Belarusian State Security Committee, who provoked a conflict with the crew when the plane arrived in Belarusian airspace and had to send a request for help, then a Belarusian destroyer get off and he is detained.
“We believe that the Belarussian government must be responsible for the safety of all passengers and the plane,” EU High Representative Joseph Borrell wrote on Twitter. “ALL passengers must be allowed to continue their journey immediately,” he stressed, implying that Minsk must release Protasevich.
The same call has been made by the President of the European Commission (EC), Urzula von der Leiena. “ALL passengers must be able to continue their journey to Vilnius immediately, guaranteeing their safety,” she wrote on a separate tweet. “The consequences of any violation of international air transport regulations must be taken into account.”
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, who will chair a meeting of the leaders of the 27 EU member states in Brussels on Monday, has stated that it is important for the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to investigate the situation.
Several EU Member States have already responded to the unprecedented actions of Belarus.
Polish Prime Minister Matthew Moravecki called the incident “state terrorism”. He called on Charles Michel to start discussions on immediate EU sanctions against Belarus on Monday, saying that Protasevich’s detention “should not go unpunished”.
The Belarusian Chargé d’Affaires in Warsaw has been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw, where he has been asked to explain the incident, TVN24 reports.
Former President of the European Council, former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk admitted on Twitter that Belarus’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko “has become a threat not only to his country’s citizens but also to international security”. He urged “all European governments and institutions to respond immediately and severely” to this move by Minsk.
Miguel Berger, State Secretary of the German Foreign Ministry, has called on the Belarussian government to provide an explanation for Protasevich’s arrest without delay.
As reported, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs (JV) has indicated that the actions of the Belarusian authorities are in conflict with any international law.
“This is completely unacceptable. The plane and all its passengers must be released immediately and they must continue on their way to their destination. The international response must be strong and effective,” the minister said.
Lithuanian President Gitan Nauseda has issued a statement demanding that the Minsk regime immediately release Protasevich, who has been granted asylum by Lithuania, and allow him and the other passengers on the plane to continue their journey to Vilnius.
At the same time, he called on the EU and NATO to respond.
“I call on allies in NATO and the European Union to respond immediately to the threat posed by the Belarussian regime to international civil aviation. The international community must take urgent action to prevent such incidents from happening again,” Nauseda said.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has pointed out that the news about the landing of an international flight in Minsk is alarming. “Together with our international partners, we are working to ensure the safe return of all travelers to Vilnius,” he wrote on Facebook.
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