EU locks out Belarus from international aviation

[Stevicus]

Belarus 'diverts Ryanair flight to arrest journalist', opposition says - BBC News

Apparently a Ryanair flight was in Belarussian airspace and was forced to land so they could arrest a journalist.

A Ryanair plane from Greece to Lithuania was diverted to Belarus for several hours on Sunday, with activists saying it was done to arrest a dissident journalist on board.

European nations reacted with outrage, accusing Belarus of "state terrorism".

The ex-editor of the Nexta group, Roman Protasevich, was detained before the plane was allowed to resume its flight.

Belarus media said a MiG-29 escorted the jet to Minsk because of a bomb scare but no explosives were found.

The plane finally landed in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, its original destination, at 21:25 local time (18:25 GMT), more than seven hours after its scheduled arrival.

Arriving passengers said they had been given no information about the reason for the abrupt diversion to Minsk. One said Mr Protasevich looked "super scared. I looked directly to his eyes and it was very sad".


Another, Monika Simkiene, told AFP news agency: "He just turned to people and said he was facing the death penalty."

I heard about this on the radio, and my first reaction was to wonder why this flight was flying over Belarussian territory in the first place. They should have gone around it, especially considering recent events in Belarus.

How was the flight diverted?
Flight FR4978 was en route from Athens to Vilnius when it turned east to Minsk shortly before it reached the Lithuanian border. Greece and Lithuania put the number of passengers on board at 171.


In a statement, Ryanair said that the crew had been "notified by Belarus (Air Traffic Control) of a potential security threat on board and were instructed to divert to the nearest airport, Minsk".

The flight path, visible on the Flightradar24 website, suggests the plane was actually nearer to Vilnius than Minsk when it turned.

Ryanair said checks in Minsk found "nothing untoward" and the aircraft left Minsk at 20:50 local time.

"We apologise sincerely to all affected passengers for this regrettable delay which was outside Ryanair's control," it added.

The Ryanair statement made no mention of Mr Protasevich.

Nexta was the first to break the news of his arrest. It said the plane and its passengers was searched, then Mr Protasevich was taken away.


Belta, the state-owned news agency in Belarus, said Mr Lukashenko had personally given the order for the plane to land in Minsk following the bomb alert, and approved despatching the MiG-29 fighter jet.

The international reaction has been angry. The U.S. ambassador to Belarus called it "abhorrent."

European Council chairman Charles Michel said EU leaders would discuss "this unprecedented incident" on Monday at a Council summit and it would not "remain without consequences".

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said this was a "serious and dangerous incident".

Both Latvia and Lithuania said the airspace over Belarus should be recognised as unsafe, with Latvia's Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics saying it should be closed to all international flights.

Latvia and Lithuania say the airspace over Belarus should be recognized as unsafe. I think this would be a good move.

This vaguely reminds me of the movie White Nights, where a Russian ballet dancer who had defected to the West was flying close to Soviet territory when the plane developed engine trouble and they were forced to land in Russia - where he was considered a criminal and subject to arrest.

 

[Altfish]

The UK will probably be doing a trade deal with Belarus

 

[exchemist]

Belarus 'diverts Ryanair flight to arrest journalist', opposition says - BBC News

Apparently a Ryanair flight was in Belarussian airspace and was forced to land so they could arrest a journalist.



I heard about this on the radio, and my first reaction was to wonder why this flight was flying over Belarussian territory in the first place. They should have gone around it, especially considering recent events in Belarus.



The international reaction has been angry. The U.S. ambassador to Belarus called it "abhorrent."



Latvia and Lithuania say the airspace over Belarus should be recognized as unsafe. I think this would be a good move.

This vaguely reminds me of the movie White Nights, where a Russian ballet dancer who had defected to the West was flying close to Soviet territory when the plane developed engine trouble and they were forced to land in Russia - where he was considered a criminal and subject to arrest.

It was a flight from Athens to Poland I understand, so the flight path took them over Belarus. As Belarus is not a war zone there was no reason to avoid Belorussian airspace. Flights are allowed to overfly by international aviation treaty and do so all the time. It is being wise after the event to say they should have guessed Lukashenko would break an international treaty by falsely telling them there was a bomb threat and forcing them down at Minsk. And again, the airline would not have even known they were carrying somebody of interest to the regime.

 

[sun rise]

The UK will probably be doing a trade deal with Belarus

And your evidence for this claim is?

 

[Altfish]

And your evidence for this claim is?

Boris Johnson and Liz Truss

 

[Stevicus]

It was a flight from Athens to Poland I understand, so the flight path took them over Belarus. As Belarus is not a war zone there was no reason to avoid Belorussian airspace. Flights are allowed to overfly by international aviation treaty and do so all the time. It is being wise after the event to say they should have guessed Lukashenko would break an international treaty by falsely telling them there was a bomb threat and forcing them down at Minsk. And again, the airline would not have even known they were carrying somebody of interest to the regime.

Yes, you make some good points, although considering recent events in that country, I'm surprised no one considered the possibility.

I remember when the movie White Nights came out, Baryshnikov said that in reality, he would never take a flight which came even close to Soviet territory. Too risky.

 

[exchemist]

Yes, you make some good points, although considering recent events in that country, I'm surprised no one considered the possibility.

I remember when the movie White Nights came out, Baryshnikov said that in reality, he would never take a flight which came even close to Soviet territory. Too risky.

Well, if you want to argue that Pratasevich, personally, might have thought it wiser to take the train or go via Paris, you may have a point. But there's no way anyone can blame the airline or other states for not foreseeing this.

It seems there were Belarus secret police agents, (quaintly still called KGB, apparently) on the plane with him.

 

[Marcion]

It was a flight from Athens to Poland I understand, so the flight path took them over Belarus.

I think it was a flight to Vilnius (in Latvia).
Bush tried to do the same with Edward Snowden downing a plane on the way to Bolivia. Except Snowden wasn't on the flight for some reason or other.
So he stayed in Russia instead.
So it's not like there was no precedent.

 

[Stevicus]

Well, if you want to argue that Pratasevich, personally, might have thought it wiser to take the train or go via Paris, you may have a point. But there's no way anyone can blame the airline or other states for not foreseeing this.

It seems there were Belarus secret police agents, (quaintly still called KGB, apparently) on the plane with him.

I'm not actually blaming anyone for this, other than Lukashenko and his henchmen. However, considering all that's been going on in Belarus (and in Russia, for that matter), it might not be bad policy to expect the unexpected.

 

[exchemist]

I think it was a flight to Vilnius (in Latvia).
Bush tried to do the same with Edward Snowden downing a plane on the way to Bolivia. Except Snowden wasn't on the flight for some reason or other.
So he stayed in Russia instead.
So it's not like there was no precedent.

Oh was it? My mistake then.