United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has blasted Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko after Belarusian authorities hijacked a Ryanair flight.
‘We strongly condemn the Lukashenka regime’s brazen and shocking act to divert a commercial flight and arrest a journalist,’ Blinken said in a statement Sunday evening.
Blinken called for the immediate release of Roman Protasevich, 26, an opponent of President Lukashenko was taken off the plane and arrested.
‘We demand an international investigation and are coordinating with our partners on next steps. The United States stands with the people of Belarus.’
The passenger plane full of tourists had been flying from Athens in Greece to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, when it was escorted by a Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jet amid reports of a bomb on board.
The airliner was forced to make an emergency landing at Minsk Airport in Belarus, where authorities arrested Protasevich, a critic of Lukashenko who founded opposition news outlet Nexta in Poland.
Julie Fisher, the US Ambassador to Belarus, earlier voiced her anger at the provocation.
‘Lukashenko and his regime today showed again its contempt for international community and its citizens. Faking a bomb threat and sending MiG-29s to force @RyanAir to Minsk in order to arrest a @Nexta journalist on politically motivated charges is dangerous and abhorrent.’
European countries have joined in the wave of condemnation against Belarus, with Britain calling Lukashenko a ‘Putin puppet’.
The Ryanair flight left Athens bound for Vilnius in Lithuania Sunday morning, but it was intercepted by a MiG-29 fighter jet over Belarussian airspace and ordered to land at Minsk
The US’s top diplomat Antony Blinken blasted Belarus for faking a bomb threat on a Ryanair flight to kidnap a journalist
The Ryanair flight was forced to land in Belarus following a ‘bogus bomb threat’ that was allegedly used as a ploy to arrest an opposition activist Roman Protasevich (pictured)
The airliner full of tourists made an emergency landing at Minsk Airport today after being escorted by a MiG-29 fighter jet amid reports of a bomb on board
Julie Fisher, the US Ambassador to Belarus, joined a wave of condemnation
Former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said: ‘This Lukashenko action is completely outrageous. Time for Europe to act.’
Garry Kasparov, the former chess world champion and outspoken critic of Putin, said: ‘I assume that Lukashenko’s explanation will be “go to hell” as usual. And then what? Action, finally? The EU enables such terrorism with inaction, and it inevitably goes from domestic to international terror.’
Reports say Protasevich’s activism has led to him being included on a terror list, for which he could face the death penalty. Belarus is the last country in Europe to use the death penalty.
Critics of Lukashenko, regarded by many as the so-called last strongman of Europe, claimed the incident was confected by Minsk in order to detain Protasevich. They also claim Lukashenko would never have dared the move in EU airspace without receiving a green light from Vladimir Putin, his closest ally.
‘We strongly condemn the Lukashenka regime’s brazen and shocking act to divert a commercial flight and arrest a journalist,’ Blinken said in a statement Sunday evening
‘Lukashenko and his regime today showed again its contempt for international community and its citizens. Faking a bomb threat and sending MiG-29s to force @RyanAir to Minsk in order to arrest a @Nexta journalist on politically motivated charges is dangerous and abhorrent,’ said Julie Fisher, US Ambassador to Belarus
Garry Kasparov, the former chess world champion and outspoken critic of Putin, said: ‘I assume that Lukashenko’s explanation will be “go to hell” as usual. And then what? Action, finally? The EU enables such terrorism with inaction, and it inevitably goes from domestic to international terror’
Former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said: ‘This Lukashenko action is completely outrageous. Time for Europe to act’
The US and Britain are calling for toughening existing sanctions against Belarus, as European leaders from Germany, the Baltic states and the Czech Republic slammed the ‘outlandish’ Ryanair hijacking as ‘outrageous’, ‘illegal’ and an ‘act of state terrorism’.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab tweeted: ‘The UK is alarmed by reports of the arrest of journalist Roman Protasevich & circumstances that led to his flight being forced to land in Minsk. We are coordinating with our allies. This outlandish action by Lukashenko will have serious implications.’
Brussels is set to discuss strengthening sanctions against Belarus, imposed over the crackdown by the Lukashenko regime on opposition protesters, at a pre-planned summit on Monday.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen tweeted: ‘The outrageous and illegal behaviour of the regime in Belarus will have consequences. Those responsible for the Ryanair hijacking must be sanctioned. Journalist Roman Protasevich must be released immediately.’
Polish premier Mateusz Morawiecki denounced Belarus’s actions as ‘an act of state terrorism’, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called for a ‘strong and united response’ from the EU. Lithuania and Latvia have called for international flights not to use Belarusian airspace.
Greek premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis denounced the Belarusian intervention of the Ryanair flight. He said: ‘The forced landing of a commercial plane to detain a journalist is an unprecedented, shocking act.
‘We demand all passengers’ immediate release. Tomorrow’s #EUCO [European Council] must address the need to step up pressure on Belarus. Enough is enough.’
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg also said he was closely monitoring the situation, tweeting: ‘Closely monitoring forcible landing in Belarus of flight to Vilnius and reported detention of opposition figure Roman Protasevich.
‘This is a serious & dangerous incident which requires international investigation. Belarus must ensure safe return of crew & all passengers.’
An official Belarus Telegram channel claimed they saved Europe from a terrorist incident in bringing down the Ryanair plane bound for the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
The Belarus defense ministry confirmed the detention of Protasevich, who had been living in exile.
Human rights center Vesna also said: ‘Roman Protasevich was detained. He was on the Ryanair flight Athens-Vilnius.’
Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s full statement on Belarus’s diversion of a Ryanair passenger flight
NEXTA, Protasevich’s outlet, was closely involved in reporting a wave of opposition protests that last year threatened to topple Lukashenko, before he was given backing by Vladimir Putin
Data from the flightradar24.com website showed the plane was diverted just two minutes before it was due to cross into Lithuanian airspace.
After several hours in Minsk, the plane took off again for Vilnius, a top EU official said. Protasevich was not on board the flight this time.
After finally landing in Vilnius several hours after the scheduled time of arrival, some passengers described seeing the blogger looking nervous as the flight was diverted to Belarus.
‘He just turned to people and said he was facing the death penalty,’ Monika Simkiene, a 40-year-old Lithuanian, told AFP.
Edvinas Dimsa, 37, said: ‘He was not screaming, but it was clear that he was very much afraid. It looked like if the window had been open, he would have jumped out of it.’
Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, widely seen to have won last year’s presidential election against Lukashenko before being forced into exile, said: ‘It is absolutely obvious that this is an operation by the special services to hijack an aircraft in order to detain the activist and blogger Roman Protasevich.
‘The regime endangered the safety of passengers on board and all civil aviation for the sake of reprisals against a man who was the editor of the largest Belarusian independent Telegram channels.
‘Only for this he was recognized as a terrorist, and only for this now in Belarus Roman can face the death penalty.
‘We have already informed the Ryanair office and the International Civil Aviation Organisation, demanding to start an investigation into the incident and take measures up to the exclusion of Belarus from ICAO,’ Tikhanovskaya added.
She warned: ‘From now on, not a single person flying over Belarus can be sure of their safety. After all, the regime is abusing the rules of air traffic in order to capture those who disagree.’
The Belarus authorities claimed its bomb-disposal squad was examining the plane
Belarusian dog handler checks luggage from the Ryanair flight in Minsk International Airport on May 23
Meanwhile the Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas said: ‘Absolutely inexplicable and shocking reports from Belarus about detaining Roman Protasevich and forcing the plane to land.
‘All passengers should be immediately released and a thorough international investigation should follow. EU must take a stand together.
MEP Roberta Metsola also called for Europe to act now in response to the forced landing.
She said: ‘Now is the time for Europe to act in unison. Extended sanctions, independent international investigations and immediate release of dissidents.
‘We must be able to guarantee safety and security of air passenger travel. Leaders meeting at #EUCO tomorrow must act.’
The incident is certain to worsen already dire relations between the West and Belarus, which has been tightly controlled since 1994 by President Alexander Lukashenko.
Opponents accuse him of rigging a presidential election in his own favour last year and of then cracking down violently on the opposition. He denies electoral fraud.
The Ryanair flight is parked at Minsk International Airport on Sunday after it was stopped by authorities
British Conservative MP Damian Collins condemned the ‘hijacking’ in a statement. He said: ‘This is an appalling act of hijacking by a rogue state.
‘Belarus must release Roman Protasevich, give him safe passage to Lithuania and compensate the airline and passengers. Without this they should face serious sanctions.’
Ryanair said in a statement that the plane’s crew was notified by Belarus of a potential security threat on board and were instructed to divert to the nearest airport, Minsk.
The plane landed safely, passengers were offloaded and security checks were made by local authorities, it said, saying it expected the aircraft to resume its journey later on Sunday.
Protasevich worked for an online opposition news service Nexta, a Telegram channel that broadcast footage of mass protests against Lukashenko last year at a time when it was hard for foreign media to do so.
He is wanted in Belarus on extremism charges and stands accused of organising mass riots and of inciting social hatred, allegations he denies.
Belarusian news agency BelTA reported that Lukashenko had personally ordered the warplane to escort the Ryanair plane to Minsk. No explosives were found, it said.
Police officers detained Roman Protasevich after he was attempting to cover a rally in Minsk, Belarus on 26 March 2017
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called for an international response.
‘I call on NATO and EU allies to immediately react to the threat posed to international civil aviation by the Belarus regime. The international community must take immediate steps that this does not repeat,’ Nauseda said.
Lithuanian presidential adviser Asta Skaisgiryte said the operation to force the plane carrying around 170 people from 12 countries to land seemed to be pre-planned.
Protasevich had said that at Athens airport a bald Russian-speaking middle-aged man had attempted to film the main page of his passport. He then turned and left.
The Ryanair plane, which was carrying blogger Roman Protasevich and was diverted to Belarus, lands at Vilnius Airport in Vilnius, Lithuania on Sunday
NEXTA was closely involved in reporting a wave of opposition protests that last year threatened to topple Lukashenko, before he was given backing by Vladimir Putin
A message being retweeted in Russia read: ‘Detention of Protasevich (NEXTA) is a splendid, beautiful, complicated, (operation) in the best traditions of the Soviet KGB, the work of the Belorussian CHEKA (state security). You are cool!’
NEXTA reported: ‘Protasevich was on board a flight heading from Athens to Vilnius. He faces the death penalty in Belarus.
‘The Lukashists [derogatory term for supporters of embattled President Lukashenko] seized the plane in order to arrest Protasevich,’ the channel said.
The Belarus authorities claimed its bomb-disposal squad was examining the plane.
The official Minsk version said: ‘Belarus defended Europe. Information has been received that the plane has been mined.’
The plane had almost left Belarus air space but was forced to land in Minsk.
‘The situation was immediately reported to the President. Lukashenko gave an unconditional command to turn the plane around and receive it.
‘In this situation, the most important thing is the safety and lives of people.’
The Belarusian department for organised crime control reported that Protasevich had been detained before deleting the statement from its Telegram channel.
Around 35,000 people have been detained in Belarus since August, human rights groups say. Dozens have received jail terms. Authorities say that more than 1,000 criminal cases have been launched.