after admiring the creativity of the united “Dylanologists” of this world – all these homages on the 80th birthday of the word master on Whit Monday, often with one of the 600 Bob Dylan songs as an anchor line (kathisch.de with “Knockin ‘on Heaven’s Door”) – so we direct our gaze towards this divine festival of contemporary history on the not at all lyrical world.
In that, a blood state like Belarus can simply force a Ryanair liner plane to make a stopover in Minsk on the way from the EU country Greece to the EU country Lithuania, to arrest a dissident blogger and his girlfriend in the group of passengers: “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall”.
At the EU summit of heads of state and government from 27 countries, which has been running since Monday evening, the aggression of the ruler Alexander Lukashenko immediately made it a hot topic. This “unprecedented incident” will “not remain without consequences”, announced Council President Charles Michel, many speak of an “act of state terrorism”.
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Sanction number one: Belarusian airlines are no longer allowed to use EU airspace; conversely, many European airlines – including Lufthansa – no longer fly over Belarus. The EU Commission freezes three billion euros in investments.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, in turn, demands the immediate release of the imprisoned Roman Protasewitsch – who made a “confession” in Minsk. It is likely to be just as forced as the landing of the Ryanair jet.
The relationship with Belarus partner Russia is also on the summit agenda in Brussels. Just like the left-wing politician Gregor Gysi, the Kremlin has recently recalled that in 2013 a plane belonging to Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced to land in Austria at the behest of the USA. At the time it was hoped to find and arrest the whistleblower Edward Snowden – who, by the way, is now living in exile in Russia.