OLIVIER HOSLET
“Roman Protassewitsch must be released immediately,” demanded Merkel on Monday evening before the EU special summit in Brussels. That also applies to his partner.
Merkel criticized the “unprecedented actions of the Belarusian authorities” and spoke of a forced landing. “All other explanations for this landing of the Ryanair aircraft are completely implausible.”
Authorities of the Republic of Belarus landed a Ryanair plane with more than 100 passengers en route from Athens to Vilnius on Sunday – allegedly because of a bomb threat. A MiG-29 fighter jet also rose, as the military in Minsk confirmed. According to the Wesna Human Rights Center, the blogger Protassewitsch, who was wanted internationally by Lukashenko and who was arrested in Minsk, was also on board.
Merkel announced that the EU states would jointly demand the release of those arrested. In addition, the heads of state and government wanted to discuss possible further punitive measures. This certainly includes putting more people on the EU sanctions list on which Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is already on. But a flight ban for the Belarusian airline and the demand for an international investigation into the incident are also conceivable.