A Ryanair flight from Athens bound for Vilnius, Lithuania, following a "bomb threat" was forced by the Belarusian authorities to divert its route and land at Minsk airport, where one of the passengers, the exiled opponent Roman Protassevich, was arrested.
Last November, the Belarusian authorities had added Protassevich to the list of "persons involved in terrorist activities".
The arrest of the pro-democracy activist in Belarus is "abominable", attacked the president of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda.
The Lithuanian leader spoke of "unprecedented event! A civilian passenger plane flying to Vilnius was forcibly landed in Minsk," he said on Twitter: "The Belarusian political activist and founder of Nexta was on the plane. It is. been arrested. The regime is behind this abominable action. I urgently ask for the release of Roman Protasevic! ".
The stances of the various chancelleries have been tough, from Paris to Berlin, from London to Rome: Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio has expressed "firm condemnation".
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the arrest an "act of state terrorism".
The EU demanded the immediate release of all passengers, and the episode was harshly condemned in unison by the presidents of the EU Parliament, David Sassoli, the Ursula von der Leyen Commission, the Council Charles Michel and the Other Representative. EU Josep Borrell.
After a few hours the flight left for Vilnius, as announced by the European Commission.
"Great news for everyone, especially for the families and friends of the people on board", tweeted the transport commissioner Adina Valean, who however did not mention the opposition activist Roman Protassevich, arrested after the forced landing in the capital Belarusian.
