Lukashenko’s special operation to force the landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk using combat aviation risks turning into a tightening of Western sanctions against Belarus, including expulsion from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and ban on civil flights over its territory.

The operation, which resulted in the detention of Roman Protasevich, founder and former editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel NEXTA, is an act of "state terrorism," Manfred Weber, head of the European Parliament's leading faction, the European People's Party, told Funke media group.

"The dictator Lukashenko," whom neither the EU nor the United States recognizes as the legitimate president of Belarus, "endangered civil air travel in Europe by this unacceptable act ," Weber said, adding that "a clear response and decisive action by the heads of state and government of European countries is required."

The leader of the German Alliance 90/The Greens, Annalena Baerbock, nominated as a candidate for the post of chancellor, called the situation around the Ryanair flight "a state kidnapping of a passenger plane."

"We need a new package of EU sanctions, which will include measures against Belarusian state-owned companies, which form a support for Lukashenko and are included in the US sanctions list," she said.

The Committees on Foreign Affairs of the Parliaments of 8 European countries, as well as the U.S. Senate, headed by Democrat Robert Menendez, issued a joint statement demanding an immediate halt to all civilian flights over Belarus.

"We call on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to conduct an immediate investigation into this apparent violation of free international air transit and threats to aviation. Prior to the investigation, we call for Belarus to be removed from the organization," reads the document signed by lawmakers from the UK, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany.

The reckless actions "put passengers and crew in serious danger" and as a response Lukashenko's regime should be cut off from Interpol and other international organizations, the parliamentarians write.

They also demand the release of Roman Protasevich and all other political prisoners "immediately and unconditionally."

The U.S. strongly condemns the forced landing of the plane and the arrest of Protasevich, said the head of the State Department Antony Blinken.

"The regime's shocking act endangered the lives of more than 120 passengers, including U.S. citizens," he said, adding that information "about the involvement of the Belarusian special services and the use of a military aircraft to escort the plane are deeply troubling and require a full investigation."

ICAO said it was "strongly concerned about the apparent forced landing of a Ryanair flight with passengers on board," adding that the actions of the Belarusian authorities "may be contrary" to the Chicago Convention, which regulates flight rules in the airspace of member states.

The ICAO added that they are waiting for additional details to draw concrete conclusions.

Without waiting for the ICAO decision, the Latvian national airline AirBaltic has decided not to fly over Belarus, said the Latvian Minister of Transport, Tālis Linkaits.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said Belarusian KGB officers were on board and its forced landing was "an act of state-sponsored piracy."

"I can't talk about it in more detail because the EU and NATO authorities are currently dealing with this issue," O'Leary said. “It seems that the aim of the Belarusian authorities was to detain the journalist and his companion. We believe that several KGB officers also got off the flight at the airport."

The Ryanair fr4978 flight was flying from Athens to Vilnius and made an emergency landing in the Belarusian capital due to a report of am explosive device on board, which later turned out to be false. The plane was escorted by a fighter jet of the Belarusian Air Force, which was sent on the personal order of the country's ruler Alexander Lukashenko.

In February, Minsk demanded that Warsaw extradite Stepan Putilo and Roman Protasevich, the founder and then editor-in-chief of the popular Telegram channel Nexta, declared extremist by the Belarusian authorities. The KGB of Belarus has added Putilo and Protasevich to the list of organizations and “individuals involved in terrorist activities”.

  Belarus, USA, EU

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