European Union closed airspace to Belarusian companies after hijacking plane to arrest opponent

European Union leaders on Monday approved new sanctions against Belarus, after the forced landing of the flight of Ryanair at Minsk airport where the journalist was traveling Roman Protasevich Yes they demanded his “immediate releaseAfter his arrest yesterday.

Specific, decided to ban Community airspace to Belarusian companies, as well as to ban them from landing at EU airports and They asked European companies to avoid flying over this country.

They also pledged to expand the list of sanctions in Belarus, which currently contains 88 people and 77 entities, including the president Alexander Lukashenko.

On the first day of a European Council summit in Brussels, leaders They also called for the “immediate release” of Protasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, and “Your freedom of movement is guaranteed”, according to a spokesperson for the institution.

Previously, the President of the European Commission, Úrsula Von der Leyen, described as “highly unacceptable ” hijacking the plane, overtaking “A very strong reaction.”

The President of the European Commission also said that on Monday that Brussels maintains the € 3 billion investment freeze in Belarus “Until (the country) is democratic.”

“There is an economic and investment package of 3,000 million euros ready to pay. It is frozen until Belarus is democratic, ”said Von der Leyen upon his arrival at the European summit on Monday.

“We will put pressure on the regime until it finally respects freedom of the press and freedom of opinion,” said the head of the Community Executive.

A few hours before the start of the summit, the European External Action Service summons Belarusian Ambassador to EU to express his rejection of what happened and demand the journalist’s immediate release.

In the midst of strong international pressure, Belarus, a former Soviet republic, located between Russia and the EU and ruled since 1994 by Alexander Lukashenko, dismissed the criticism and claimed to have acted legally, promising “absolute transparency”.

Belarus was supported by its main ally, Russia, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, considered that Minsk had acted “reasonable” by promising “total transparency”.

The Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, was forced to land in Belarusian airspace on Sunday, for an alleged bomb threat that turned out to be false.

Belarus even claimed on Monday to have received a “bomb” threat on this Ryanair flight, signed by Hamas, according to an email attributed to this Palestinian Islamist movement and read by an official of the Belarusian transport ministry.

Escorted by a Belarusian fighter jet, the plane landed in the capital, Minsk, where Protasevich, 26, who lived between two EU states, Poland and Lithuania, was arrested along with his partner, Sofia Sapega.

Minsk said on Monday that it informed the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a UN dependent body, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), for their “willingness to cooperate in an impartial investigation”.

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