Image Source: The Guardian
World – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Sunday forced the passenger plane of Ryanair from Athens, Greece to Athens city of Lithuania to forcibly land at Minsk Airport with its fighter aircraft. After this, Belarus police officers arrested Lukashenko’s anti-aircraft activist and blogger Roman Protasvik (26). Protasvik was wanted on charges of organizing protests on the streets after Lukashenko was declared victorious in the presidential election of Belarus last year.
The Belarusian president has begun to be criticized globally for this action. Lithuanian’s President Gitanas Nauseda, a member of the European Union (EU), has urged the EU and NATO to respond to the act, following which Germany has demanded an immediate explanation from Belarus.
The Prime Minister of Poland has called it blasphemous government terrorist action. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Lien, said that Belarus’ actions were completely unacceptable.
According to the BITA State News Agency, it was ordered to reach Minsk by saying that there was a bomb in the plane which has reached close to the border of Lithuania. To put pressure on the pilot, Lukashenko sent a Belarusian air force fighter into the sky. However, no bomb was found in the aircraft at Minsk Airport.