EU threatens air traffic curbs over Belarus 'state piracy'

KIEV • European leaders have threatened to limit international air traffic over Belarus and possibly restrict its ground transport, after a Ryanair passenger plane was forced to land in an incident denounced by Western countries as "state piracy".

Western leaders yesterday used the strongest language to condemn Sunday's incident, in which a Belarusian warplane intercepted a flight between Greece and Lithuania and forced it down in Belarus' capital Minsk, where a dissident journalist was arrested.

Various countries called for the release of 26-year-old Roman Protasevich, whose social media feed from exile has been one of the last remaining independent outlets for news about Belarus since a mass crackdown on dissent last year.

"This was effectively aviation piracy, state sponsored," said Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, using language that was echoed by a number of countries.

Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said: "It is dangerous, reckless, and naturally the EU is going to act."

The French presidency said a request had been sent to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (Icao) to suspend international flights over Belarusian air space. Banning the Belarusian state carrier Belavia from European airports would also be discussed, as well as unspecified measures regarding ground transport links.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the forced diversion of the plane and the arrest of the journalist, saying it was a "shocking act" that "endangered the lives of more than 120 passengers, including US citizens".

Still, the options for Western retaliation appear limited. The Montreal-based Icao has no regulatory power, and the European Union has no authority over flights taking off and landing in Belarus or flying over its air space, apart from direct flights that originate or land in Europe.

Belarus said it was acting in response to a bomb threat on the flight on Sunday, which turned out to be a false alarm. It said yesterday that its ground controllers had given guidance to the flight but had not ordered it to land.

State media said the decision to intervene had been ordered personally by Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko.

Russia, which has provided security, diplomatic and financial backing to Mr Lukashenko, accused the West of hypocrisy. It noted that in 2013 a flight from Moscow carrying Bolivia's president had been diverted to Austria after reports saying that fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden might be on board.

The EU and the United States imposed several rounds of financial sanctions against Minsk last year, which had no effect on the behaviour of Mr Lukashenko, who denies election fraud in his win.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary, who referred to the incident as a state-sponsored hijacking, said yesterday that he believed security agents had been on Flight FR4978 and had also disembarked in Minsk. That would mean the operation had effectively been coordinated with spies operating on the ground in Greece.

A Belarusian university in Vilnius said one of its students, Ms Sofia Sapega, 23, who had been travelling with Mr Protasevich, had also been detained in Minsk. The university demanded her release.

One passenger described the moment when the pilot had come on the intercom to tell passengers they were being diverted to Minsk. Mr Protasevich immediately shot to his feet, knowing his time was up, and handed his laptop and phone to his companion.

Another passenger, referring to Mr Protasevich, said: "I looked directly into his eyes and he was very sad."

REUTERS, NYTIMES