“International scandal”, “unacceptable, shocking, outrageous event”, “terrorism State action”, “hijacking”, “Just awful. Like a very bad movie”... The Heads of State or Government of the European Union Member States and the Presidents of the European institutions did not mince their words on Monday 24 May on their arrival at the European summit to denounce the forced landing in Minsk of a Ryanair flight that was flying from Athens to Vilnius the day before, with more than 100 passengers on board, to forcibly remove the Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich and his fiancée, Sofia Sapega.
“It was with great firmness that the EU27 very quickly condemned what had happened”, stressed the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, describing the hijacking of the flight as a “threat to international security”. “This is an attack on democracy, freedom of expression, and European sovereignty”, added European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Member States called for the “immediate” release of Mr Pratasevich and his fiancée, with Ms von der Leyen recalling that the Belarusian regime was responsible for his health.
Beyond words, EU leaders agreed on new measures against the Belarusian regime. Calling the incident “unacceptable” and “unprecedented”, they asked the International Civil Aviation Organization to urgently investigate the incident to determine whether there was a violation of the Chicago Convention.
They also call on the EU Council to adopt the necessary measures to ban the overflight of EU airspace by Belarusian airlines and to prevent flights operated by these airlines from accessing EU airports. All EU-based carriers should avoid flying over Belarus, the leaders added.
Responding to this issue, Lithuania has also announced that it will not allow any flights to or from its territory to cross Belarusian airspace.
According to Ms von der Leyen, the European Council has decided to impose additional sanctions on individuals involved in the hijacking, but also on companies and entities financing the Belarusian regime. Specifically, in the conclusions, the EU Council is asked to adopt additional targeted sanctions “as soon as possible”.
But Ms von der Leyen also mentioned a €3 billion aid and investment package that would be given to Belarus, once Mr Lukashenko is gone.
While 88 individuals—including President Lukashenko—and seven entities are subject to restrictive measures (see EUROPE 12667/23), the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, announced on 10 May that additional measures were being prepared (see EUROPE 12718/26).
According to an EU source, this package, expected in June, will be strengthened.
The leaders also call on the EU Council to adopt new targeted economic sanctions, inviting the High Representative and the Commission to submit proposals to this end without delay.
Finally, the EU27 expressed solidarity with Latvia after the “unjustified” expulsion of diplomats. Belarus ordered the expulsion of Latvian embassy staff in Minsk at the end of May, accusing Riga of replacing the Belarusian flag with the opposition flag at the World Hockey Championship.
Earlier in the day, in a statement on behalf of the EU, Mr Borrell described the forced landing of the Ryanair flight by the Belarusian authorities as “inadmissible”. The detention of Raman Pratasevich in Minsk is “another blatant attempt by the Belarusian authorities to silence all opposition voices”, he denounced. According to him, “by carrying out this coercive act”, the Belarusian authorities endangered the safety of the passengers and crew.
On Monday, the Belarusian ambassador to the EU, Aleksandr Mikhnevich, was summoned to the European External Action Service. Several Member States have also summoned Belarusian ambassadors to their capitals.
On the NATO side, the ambassadors of the allied countries are meeting on Tuesday to discuss this event.
See the European Council conclusions: https://bit.ly/3fLWBl8 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Solenn Paulic and Mathieu Bion)