In a level European Union Summit the prime minister is expected to put it “State hijacking” which took place yesterday afternoon, when by order of the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, its aircraft had to land at Minsk Airport Ryanair with 171 passengers (among 11 Greeks) operating the Athens-Vilnius flight on the grounds of the bomb threat, resulting in the arrest of the 26-year-old dissident Belarusian journalist and blogger Roman Protasevic.
of Georgia Ath. Skitzi
His reaction was immediate Kyriakou Mitsotaki, speaking of an unprecedented shocking act, noting in a Twitter post that today ‘s summit should focus on increasing pressure on Belarus, while after a series of condemnation statements, sanctions are now taken for granted, as the thriller unfolded. in the air has received serious political implications.
He also issued a harsh statement Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs in which he states: “Greece strongly condemns the act of state hijacking that resulted in the forced landing of Ryanair FR 4978. This act, which endangered the lives of all passengers, is unacceptable. We condemn the illegal arrest of the Belarusian activist Roman Protasevich, who is threatened with the death penalty.
Because he was in Athens
According to the Greek Foreign Ministry, Protasevic was in Athena as a member of the delegation of the leader of the Belarusian opposition Svetlana Tikhanosfkaya, who had participated in the International Economic Forum of Delphi. The 26-year-old is accused of terrorism and inciting riots, as the channels in which he worked were the main means of broadcasting the public protests against President Lukashenko, who were protesting against fraud in the 2020 elections. The journalist has been living in exile since 2019 and Poland had rejected his extradition request from the Minsk government .
Some 35,000 people have been arrested since last August, according to human rights groups. Dozens have been sentenced to prison terms, with authorities claiming more than 1,000 criminal cases have been opened. The European Union’s foreign ministers reached an agreement in October 2020 to impose sanctions on Lukashenko over the brutal crackdown on protesters. However, the name of the President of Belarus was not included in the list of 40 people who were sanctioned.
EU-NATO condemnation and consequences
“The incident will not go unnoticed”, stated the President of the European Council, Charles Michel Calling on the Belarussian authorities to release the detained passenger immediately and to guarantee his full rights. The President of the Commission also requests the immediate release of the journalist Roman Protasevic in a message on twitter, Ursula von der Leyen, while she also talks about “consequences” in Belarus. At the same time, the Lithuania called on the countries of the European Union to jointly agree that airlines should avoid Belarusian airspace.
The proposal for the joint declaration will also be discussed at the Summit of European Leaders, while according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it will also be asked to recognize this episode as a violation of the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). NATO also intervened and requested an international investigation into the incident.
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