Incident with a forced landing in Minsk Aircraft of the company Ryanair is the “act of state terrorism”. Such an opinion expressed the head of the leading faction of the European Parliament – European People’s Party (UNP) – Manfred Weber in an interview with the Funke media group, reports TASS.
“Dictator [President of Belarus Alexander] Lukashenko his unacceptable act of state terrorism threatens civil air transportes in Europe,” he said.
Weber believes that European states need to take “decisive actions” and give a “clear answer” in relation to Minsk.
According to him, forced landing in Minsk the aircraft of the Ryanair company at the request of Belarusian dispatchers is a new phenomenon. Previously similar incidents with civilian passenger aircraft, which were on the path between the two EU and NATO states, was not. In this regard, Weber noted, Minsk directly “encroaches to existing international rules.”
The head of the leading fraction of the European Parliament said that the European Union during the meeting from 24 to 25 May should be to say Minsk, which “such actions in Europe there is no place.”
On May 23, the Ryanair Latvian Airline plane, following the route Athens – Vilnius, made an emergency landing in Minsk after reports of mining arrived from Minsk airport. To accompany the aircraft, the Fighter MiG-29 of the Air Force of Belarus was raised. Immediately after landing, Belarusian security forces detained on board the creator and the Telegram-channel NEXTA Roman Protasevich. He is accused of creating extremist formation and calls to mass riots after the presidential election in August 2020.
The Lithuanian Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal case due to the incident with the Ryanair aircraft. The agency believes that the actions of Minsk can be described as the seizure of the aircraft, and the investigation itself is conducted “on the fact of the hijacking of the aircraft and handling people prohibited by international law.”