Ryanair denounces Belarus forced landing of a plane as "state sponsored hijacking"

The CEO of the Irish airline Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, has called a “state sponsored kidnapping” the forced landing in Belarus of a plane that covered the route between Athens and Vilnius for the arrest of an opposition journalist. “I can not say much because the authorities of the European Union (EU) and NATO are addressing it at the moment,” said O’Leary in statements to the Irish broadcaster NewsTalk, before applauding the “phenomenal work” of the crew of the Thus, he pointed out that the incident was “very frightening” for passengers and crew and stressed that “it seems that the intention of the (Belarusian) authorities was to remove a journalist and his companion.” O’Leary, who highlighted that crew and passengers “were detained by armed guards while their suitcases were being inspected” and has stressed that the airline “believes that some KGB agents also got off (the plane) at the airport.” On the other hand, it has said that Ryanair will accept the decision of the European authorities on the possible closure of Belarusian airspace, before stressing that it is not a route that they use frequently, so it would mean “a very small adjustment” that would imply flying over Poland. Belarusian authorities forced a plane belonging to the Irish airline Ryanair to land to apparently detain an exiled opposition journalist, Raman Protasevich. Minsk reportedly informed the crew of a bomb threat and even sent a fighter plane to force the commercial plane to land. The EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, confirmed this Monday that “the situation will be dealt with in this European Council ‘.”The European Union will consider the consequences of this action, including taking action against those responsible,” he added. The Belarusian Security Committee (KGB) included Protasevich and another founder of the opposition portal Nexta, Stepan Putilo, in November 2020. his list of people involved in terrorist acts The presidential elections of August 9, 2020 in Belarus, which gave a new mandate to Alexander Lukashenko, gave rise to several months of opposition protests, which denounce fraud and do not recognize the validity of the victory Ireland speaks of “air piracy” The Prime Minister of Ireland, Micheál Martin, has described the forced landing of a plane in Belarus by order of Minsk to detain a journalist as an act of “air piracy” and has advocated for a “very firm” response from the European Union (EU). Martin has argued in an interview with the Irish radio station RTE that what happened is “totally unacceptable able “and said that” it reflects the growing authoritarianism around the world “, before emphasizing that it was a” premeditated “decision by Minsk. Thus, he stated that” there must be firm responses to an act of this type “and highlighted the” risk to crew and passengers “posed by the incident, which he called” piracy in the skies “by the Belarusian authorities. The Irish Foreign Minister, Simon Coveney, has expressed himself in this line , who has spoken of an act of “air piracy sponsored by a State” and has called for an international investigation to clarify what happened.Coveney has affirmed in declarations granted to RTE that the EU must give a “very clear” answer to what happened and has stated that “any indecision or weakness will reinforce in the minds of those who make decisions in Belarus that they have done the right thing”. “The EU and its institutions will have a clear battery of options in terms of the use of sanctions,” he said, while highlighting that “they have to be sanctions that cause concern in Minsk, as otherwise it will be a futile exercise.” .Coveney has indicated that the closure of Belarusian airspace would be “a very firm response”, although he has stressed the need for sanctions “to be thoroughly thought out, as regards the consequences.” “We cannot allow this incident to happen with warnings or harsh communications,” he argued. In this sense, he explained that “a very strong signal must be sent that EU airlines cannot be attacked by state-sponsored air piracy.” . “We know enough to know that this is not acceptable,” he valued. Thus, he stressed that the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, “does not have democratic legitimacy” and “behaves like a dictator,” before stressing that ” the answer has to be clear, hard and take place quickly. ”The minister declined to comment on the information about the possibility that there were agents of the Belarusian KGB on the plane, although he acknowledged that five or six people got off the plane and “Only one or two were arrested.” “That might suggest that several of the people who got off the plane were members of the Secret Service. We do not know from which country, but clearly linked to the Belarusian regime, “he said.The chief executive of the Irish airline Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, has pointed to the possibility that they were members of the KGB.