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Ryanair forcibly rerouted: landing in Vilnius hours late
Photo: ANDRIUS SYTAS / REUTERS
After the forced diversion of a Ryanair flight to Minsk, several countries are calling for decisive reactions.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) expects "clear consequences".
"The fact that a flight between two EU countries was forced to make a stopover under the pretext of a bomb threat is a serious interference with civil air traffic in Europe," said the SPD politician.
He expected an "immediate statement" from Minsk.
France summoned the Belarusian ambassador on Sunday and called the incident "unacceptable".
NATO described the incident as "serious and dangerous" and, like the European Union, called for an "immediate investigation" into the incident.
The authorities in authoritarian Belarus had previously diverted a plane en route from Athens to Vilnius and forced it to land in the capital Minsk.
On board the passenger plane of the airline Ryanair, among the more than 100 passengers was also the blogger Roman Protasewitsch, who was internationally sought after by the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko.
According to the Wesna Human Rights Center, he was arrested on Sunday in Minsk, as was his friend Sofia Sapega, who was traveling with him, as her university in Vilnius announced on Monday.
The EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell, on behalf of all 27 EU countries, called for the Belarusian journalist to be released immediately.
His arrest is another obvious attempt by the Belarusian authorities to silence all opposition voices.
With the forced landing in Minsk, the Belarusian authorities would have endangered the safety of passengers and crew, said Borrell.
The incident must lead to an international investigation.
"Measures against those responsible" should be discussed at the EU special summit, which begins in Brussels in the evening.
The coup also caused outrage in Germany.
It was "an incredible case of state terrorism," said the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Norbert Röttgen (CDU), the newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND).
This should have clear consequences.
The FDP called for the Belarusian state airline Belavia to be deprived of its landing rights in the European Union.
Ruler Alexander Lukashenko was guilty of kidnapping and crossed a "red line," said deputy FDP parliamentary group leader Alexander Graf Lambsdorff to the RND.
"He must be treated as a criminal from now on."
The Eastern European spokesman for the Green parliamentary group, Manuel Sarrazin, called for sanctions against Belarusian state-owned companies.
"The EU must react to this new case and finally sanction the Belarusian state-owned companies that have already been put on its sanctions list by the US," he said.
The incident shows that Lukashenko "takes all means in hand to brutally suppress freedom of expression."
The United States has also threatened Lukashenko.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for the "immediate release" of the regime critic Protassevich on Sunday evening.
It was a "brazen and shocking act by the Lukashenko regime," wrote Blinken on the short message service Twitter to the Belarusian dictator.
»We are calling for an international investigation and are coordinating the next steps with our partners.
The United States stands by the people of Belarus. "
The low-cost airline Ryanair, however, is holding back in the comment, confirming after research by the "Welt" only that the "responsible national and European security authorities have been informed" about the incident involving flight FR4978.
One regrets the flight delay.
However, various airlines have not yet responded to demands not to fly over Belarusian airspace in the future.
According to "Welt", Lufthansa is currently not planning any restrictions.
This Monday there is a scheduled flight from Frankfurt to Minsk.
As before, Belarus would continue to be flown over.
The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the British Parliament had called for such an overflight ban in response to the Belarusian "air piracy".
Belarus itself, meanwhile, announced its own investigation into the events.
The Transport Ministry in Minsk announced that a commission had been set up and that the results would be published "soon".
sbo / rtr
