Europe’s harsh response to Belarus for forcing airliner to land to arrest journalist

Roman Protasevich, Belarusian citizen with political asylum status in Lithuania, slept last night in a dungeon in Belarus, the last dictatorship from Europe. His arrest, between a spy film and a serious international incident that some leaders have described as state terrorism, could trigger a barrage of European sanctions against Minsk on Monday.

Protasevich is a journalist, former editor-in-chief of “Nexta”, a medium of the opposition to the dictatorship of Alexandr Lukashenko, who lived in exile. This Sunday, he took a flight with the Irish airline Ryanair in the Greek capital, Athens. He was heading towards the Lithuanian, Vilnius.

In the middle of the flight and according to ‘Nexta’, Belarusian secret service agents – Athens airport security is another victim of the incident – caused an argument on the plane making sure it there was a bomb. Shortly after, when he was a few minutes away from leaving Belarusian airspace, an MIG fighter intercepted him and forced him to land in Minsk.

The official explanation was an alleged bomb threat. There was no bomb. When the plane landed, Belarusian agents boarded the plane and took Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia by force. A few hours later, the plane continued to Vilnius with the rest of its passengers on board. The official Belarusian agency said shortly after that the bomb threat had been “a mistake”.

European leaders have stormed in the face of what they see as an unprecedented attack that has put endangering the lives of nearly 200 passengers, majority citizens of the European Union. Lithuania and Poland have asked NATO, of which they are members, for consultations.

The European Union had already scheduled a summit this Monday and Tuesday which will now focus on Belarus. The diplomatic services of the bloc have been preparing for weeks a new series of sanctions against the Lukashenko regime that they could advance and harden themselves.

Among the options that European leaders will have on the table when they meet today in Brussels, there would be to suspend all flights to European airports of the Belarusian airline Belavia, ban overflight of Belarus to all planes of European airlines and even to the suspension of all types of transit from Belarus to European territory. The country has a land border with three members of the European Union: Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

Transparency International European Director Michiel Van Hulten recalled last night that when Russian forces shot down Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine which had taken off from Amsterdam, killing 200 Dutch citizens and nearly 100 other nationalities, the European Union. failed to get along pgive a common and firm answer in Moscow.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel – host of the summits – said in a statement that the Union “condemned in the harshest terms the forced landing of the Ryanair flight and the arrest of journalist Roman Protasevich”. Michel called for his immediate release and said that “The incident will not be without consequences.”

A diplomatic source explained on Sunday evening that in addition to responding to Belarus, Europeans must now respond in a way that sets a precedent if they do not want an authoritarian regime to do the same. The same source explained that it was not credible that Belarus had “hijacked” a European plane. without consulting Moscow first.

In the summer and fall of 2020, after a presidential election without mud, the Belarusian opposition managed to organize large protests against Lukashenko. They lasted for weeks and tens of thousands of people gathered at each of the rallies. “Nexta” was a key element in the dissemination of the events and in their coordination. It was also the medium that disseminated photos and videos of the police repression.

The regime responded with mass arrests. Opposition leaders have been imprisoned or have fled the country. Peaceful activists and journalists saw how they were sentenced to long prison terms. Protasevich, 26, was put on a list of “Individuals involved in terrorist activities”. You could be sentenced to death.

PB