Enlarge image
A political issue: Ryanair plane after landing in Vilnius
Photo: Darius Mataitis / imago images / Scanpix
According to the Belarusian government, there was a threatening letter from the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas against the Ryanair plane, which was forced to land in Minsk. The email stated, among other things, that "a bomb had been deposited" on board the plane, said the head of the aviation department in the Belarusian Ministry of Transport, Artem Sikorski, to journalists on Monday. As evidence, he said he read a Russian translation of the threatening e-mail, which was allegedly written in English.
"We, soldiers of Hamas, demand that Israel stop the attacks on the Gaza Strip," said Sikorski in the email: "We demand that the European Union stop supporting Israel." If these demands are not met , a bomb on board the Ryanair plane will "explode over Vilnius".
The e-mail is also said to have indicated that participants from the Delphi Economic Forum are sitting in the machine.
The Delphi Economic Forum is an economic conference in Athens that took place from May 10th to 15th this year.
The Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya took part in it.
According to a report by the Guardian, the blogger and activist Roman Protasewitsch, who has now been arrested in Minsk, wanted to report on her appearance.
The Belarusian journalist Hanna Liubakova commented on the alleged Hamas message on Twitter that it remains unclear why such a threat would hit Minsk if the plane flies from Athens to Vilnius in Lithuania.
Other commentators were also extremely skeptical about the ceasefire agreed a few days ago between Israel and Hamas and the arrest of Protasevich.
Ryanair presents the incident differently
Meanwhile, the Belarusian Air Force assured that the crew of the Ryanair plane themselves decided to land in Minsk after being informed of the bomb threat.
There was no external compulsion, said Air Force chief Igor Golub.
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary had previously delivered a clearly different version: "It was a state-sponsored kidnapping," he said.
He also assumes that agents of the Belarusian secret service KGB were on board the Ryanair plane, according to O'Leary.
The Ryanair plane was en route to Vilnius on Sunday when it was escorted by a Belarusian fighter jet to land in Minsk.
Exiled Belarusian oppositionist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend were arrested at the airport there, who were on board the plane.
The EU unanimously condemned the action and demanded Protasevich's release.
"What happened yesterday is an international scandal," said EU Council President Charles Michel.
The lives of European civilians were in danger.
This is a threat to international security and civil aviation.
Warning notice for Lufthansa aircraft
Another, albeit apparently minor, incident occurred at Minsk airport the day after the arrests.
Because of a warning for the Lufthansa flight LH 1487 from Minsk to Frankfurt am Main, boarding for that plane was temporarily canceled.
Lufthansa confirmed this on Monday.
Before departure, all passengers should be subjected to a new security check, and the aircraft had to be searched again.
For this, the entire freight and all suitcases had to be unloaded.
51 passengers including five crew members were affected.
According to Lufthansa, the machine was still able to start with a delay, with everyone on board.
The airport in Minsk announced via the messenger Telegram that boarding for the flight to Frankfurt had been interrupted due to a threat.
In such cases, "comprehensive measures" would have to be taken to ensure security.
The airport said the threat was received by email.
Allegedly a "terrorist act" was threatened.
mbö / AFP / dpa