Belarus

[bojan]

Chinese average salary is kept down by the rural masses who earn pittance. They are source of the manpower for a second tier industry, whose quality sucks. Qualified industrial workers OTOH can earn reasonably well and generally work for "first tier" companies.

[bd1]

On 10/27/2020 at 10:15 AM, Roman Alymov said:

So what? By this kind of activity, they are ruining own country. The basis of Belarus economy was maintaining what was left from mighty Soviet Belarus industry (and, credit where it is due, Lukashenko despite of all his strange ideas was very prudent in keeping this industry alive, promoting trade benefits with Russia on expense of Russian producers while providing war materials and vehicles for pro-Ukrainians at the same time etc.) Now, I think, KAMAZ leadership is opening dozen of Champaign bottles every day MAZ is on strike – the same with other Russian competitors of Belorussian producers.

As soon as you quote Lech Wałęsa, electrician from Gdańsk Shipyard, let’s see how his former workplace it is going: “Once a place of work for over 20,000 people, the Gdańsk shipyards provide only 2,200 jobs today”. It will be the fate of Belarus industry (or even worse – as Poland enjoyed huge investments from EU over decades, something Belarus will not get)  

AFAIK MAZ was in trouble  for several years , after german MAN pulled plug and set up shop in Poland (Star factory), leaving MAZ with production of hundreds , not thousands or tens of thousand in a year, no access to more modern equipment and technologies (even Maz cabins were second-hand german models from early 90´s).  AFAIK

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 01.11.2020

Belarus protesters face crackdown, as protest draws tens of thousands

Demonstrators have turned out for a 13th Sunday in a row to demand Alexander Lukashenko's resignation. The embattled president has warned of repression and said his government "would not back down."

Protesters in Belarus faced repression on Sunday, as security forces reportedly fired warning shots to stop demonstrators from gathering.

It was the 13th Sunday in a row that anti-government protesters gathered since Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko won a contested election.

The opposition has rejected the outcome as fraudulent and considers its leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, to be the actual winner of the vote.

Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva reported that tens of thousands of people swept through the capital, Minsk, in Sunday's protest, while Human rights group Visana put the figure at 20,000.

Photo and video footage shared on the messaging app Telegram showed streets lined with uniformed people in riot gear facing protesters. Visana said more than 240 detentions took place, including of journalists on the scene.

The independent news portal tut.by published photos showing off-road vehicles with machine guns on the roof in Minsk.

[...]

Lukashenko: 'We will not back down'

Ahead of the march, security forces had already cordoned off several central squares, closed several metro stations and in some cases, mobile internet disruption was reported.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signaled that he was ready to crack down on demonstrators. "It's enough now. We will not back down," Lukashenko said on Friday.

"If someone touches a member of the military, they must leave at least without their hands," he added in a sign of support to security forces.

Last week, Lukashenko also partially closed the border to the west and replaced his interior minister.

The opposition responded by naming Sunday's protest the "March against terror" while organizers said of Lukashenko: "He has declared war on his own people."

https://www.dw.com/en/belarus-protesters-face-crackdown-as-protest-draws-tens-of-thousands/a-55467124

[Roman Alymov]

On 10/28/2020 at 12:41 PM, Leo Niehorster said:

Interesting that the Crimea is not shown as part of Russia. Old map?

No idea how old it is, Crimea indication is not any gude to it as most Western maps still show Crimea as Ukraine since it is ideological question for them.

https://www.unian.info/politics/1261007-ukraine-demands-from-czech-publisher-to-fix-map-with-russian-crimea.html

[Ssnake]

I lost count; how many crackdowns to finally quell the unrest, so far?

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 20.11.2020

Belarus: Thousands attend funeral of killed protester Raman Bandarenka

The death of a protester has inflamed tensions in Belarus, with thousands praising the 31-year-old as a hero at his funeral. His last message — "I'm going out" — became a new slogan of the protest movement.

Several thousand mourners paid their respects to opposition activist Raman Bandarenka at a church ceremony in Minsk on Friday, decrying the death of the 31-year-old professional soldier who they believe lost his life in an altercation with Belarus security forces.

The attendants formed a half-kilometer (550 yards) line stretching from the church until the coffin was carried out. They occasionally chanted "We will not forget, we will not forgive," and "Rama, you are a hero."

The mourners also chanted "I'm going out," the last message sent by Bandarenka to a group chat on a messaging app before he was killed.

According to authorities, Bandarenka got into a fight with a group of civilians while intoxicated. He sustained brain damage and passed away in a hospital last week. Witnesses, however, say Bandarenka was attacked and detained while confronting a group of people wearing civilian clothes, after the group came to a local playground to remove red-and-white ribbons symbolizing the protest movement.

Protesters believe the men were members of the security forces, and that Bandarenka was beaten to death. The news of his passing enraged the protesters who have been demanding strongman Alexander Lukashenko step down since August. At least two other protesters have so far lost their lives, with many others missing.

What was the government's reaction?

The protesters' narrative was boosted by a leaked medical report that showed Bandarenka did not have alcohol in his blood. The authorities responded by detaining the medical worker who allegedly leaked the report and a journalist who published it.

President Lukashenko has expressed his condolences to Bandarenka's family a day after his death and urged people not to politicize the issue, while also citing the reports that claimed the soldier was drunk. On the day of the funeral, Lukashenko pledged that he would unveil new information regarding the death next week.

He told a reporter to "wait a little bit, we will say everything next week. Trust me, it will be very interesting," the leader said without providing details.

https://www.dw.com/en/belarus-thousands-attend-funeral-of-killed-protester-raman-bandarenka/a-55680666

[Roman Alymov]

25 minutes ago, BansheeOne said:

https://www.dw.com/en/belarus-thousands-attend-funeral-of-killed-protester-raman-bandarenka/a-55680666

Calling Raman Bandarenko “protestor” (or even “opposition activist” as in this DW article) is not exactly correct as he was not known before that events, and was not involved in any anti-Lukashenko activity. He was small shop manager, served as conscript in Belorussia Ministry of Interior special forces, and was beaten (and later died from head damages) by group (6 males and three females) of masked pro-Lukashenko activists in his own apaprtment block yard. The person who was first to hit him is believed to be Kickboxing World Champion Dmitry Shakuta.

   The main problem of Lukashenko's crackdown on protests is not brutality (it is far less brutal than anti-riot activity in other places) but lack of professionalism. 

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 28.11.2020

Belarus: Lukashenko hints at conditional departure

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he would not remain in his post if the protest-gripped nation adopts a new constitution. Since August, he has refused to negotiate with the opposition.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has remained in office despite August's widely disputed election, said on Friday that he would "not work as president" under a new constitution.

Lukashenko gave no timetable for his departure in remarks conveyed by his press service. The comments came during a visit to a Minsk hospital treating coronavirus patients, where Lukashenko donned protective gear, but no gloves.

It was his latest bid to proffer reform, in an apparent bid to appease protesters who have massed, almost every weekend since the disputed August 9 presidential election.

Lukashenko's remarks also came after his meeting Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who urged Belarus' president of 26 years to consider a new constitution.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/belarus-lukashenko-hints-at-conditional-departure/a-55755437

I guess the constitution he has in mind would give him immunity as a senator for life or similar.

[Ssnake]

Let him. In ten years, change the constitution again.

[Roman Alymov]

From former US Ambassador in Russia

[Roman Alymov]

Ukraine’s former president confirms Kyiv’s involvement in bringing suspected Russian mercenaries to Belarus — Meduza

Ukraine’s former president confirms Kyiv’s involvement in bringing suspected Russian mercenaries to Belarus

5:17 pm, December 31, 2020Source: Channel 5

Ukraine’s former president Petro Poroshenko has confirmed that the 33 suspected Russian mercenaries from the Wagner PMC who were arrested in Belarus back in July were lured from Russia as part of a special operation carried out by the Ukrainian intelligence services. Poroshenko made this statement during an interview with Ukrainian TV’s Channel 5 on Wednesday, December 30.

 

According to Poroshenko, he personally authorized this operation as commander-in-chief at the end of 2018; after Volodymyr Zelensky became president, “specific individuals” in the Ukrainian leadership betrayed the operation, causing it to fall through.

 Poroshenko also called for the creation of a special investigative commission to look into the reasons behind the operation’s failure and punish those responsible.

In August, the independent Ukrainian newspaper Ukrainska Pravda and the Ukrainian outlet Censor.net reported that according to their sources, Ukraine’s Security Service (the SBU) had been planning an operation to arrest Wagner group fighters involved in the war in Eastern Ukraine and put them on trial. Their sources claimed that the SBU had attempted to lure the mercenaries back to Ukraine, but they were prematurely arrested in Belarus due to an alleged information leak that came from within the President’s Office. According to Ukrainska Pravda and Censor.net, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky refused to investigate the leak attributed to his circle.

Before this was reported in the Ukrainian press, the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that according to a source in Russian intelligence, the SBU organized the alleged Wagner group mercenaries’ trip to Belarus in an attempt to worsen relations betwee

[Simon Tan]

It is too funny to see the color revolutions come home to roost. The real impact will be a mass march on security apparatus facilities, no doubt organized by GRU 'illegals'. 

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 09.02.2021

Author Nick Connolly (Minsk)

Belarus: Protesters in for the long haul as standoff continues

Demonstrations in Belarus continue in spite of an intensifying government crackdown and sub-zero temperatures. With opposition leaders either in exile or in jail, where does the protest movement go from here?

Tens of thousands of protesters out on the streets of Minsk week after week as summer turned into autumn, often enough with their children and pets in tow; women aged 18 to 80 facing off against masked riot police at women's marches; a president in fatigues bearing an unloaded assault rifle in front of his presidential palace; and as autumn turned to winter smaller groups of protesters marching around their snowy neighborhoods.

Those are set to be the defining images of the most serious challenge to Alexander Lukashenko's quarter century in office.

By the summer of 2020 Belarusians had long come to expect unfair elections from their government. They had seen violent arrests and stun grenades used on the streets of Minsk after previous elections, but none of that had prepared them for what Belarusian political analyst Artyom Shraibman described to DW as a "level of brutality" unseen in the country since World War II.

[...]

Leaderless protests — a strength and a weakness

One striking feature of the summer's protest marches was just how little they referenced the main opposition leaders. Marches were organized and publicized on social media with little need for political structures.

Protesters have told DW how the police interrogating them seemed unable to believe that they had come out spontaneously, "they're convinced that there's some foreign puppeteer pulling the strings, paying people to go out and protest. They just can't understand they people are genuinely against them."

The nature of these protests turned out to be both a strength and a weakness. It meant protests continued unabated even after election winner Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was forced into exile and other opposition figureheads had been jailed. But without a broad-based political organization to rally behind, the opposition is now struggling to convert protest activity into tangible political pressure on the government.

The regime has no such difficulties. More than 30,000 people have been arrested since the election. Many protesters who were questioned and released months ago now find themselves facing criminal charges as the authorities work through the backlog of cases. It makes for a pervasive sense of insecurity.

"Whenever I see the police now I have to cross the road," one protester told DW. Another opposition supporter told us how catching sight of any kind of minivan now automatically triggers memories of masked riot police who would kidnap protesters off the streets using the same type of vehicle.

Neighborhood protests — demonstrators retreat to their balconies

Six months later and the mass protests on the central avenues and squares of the Belarusian capital Minsk are a thing of the past. Instead, the protesters have had to retreat to their own neighborhoods to avoid arrest.

Belarusian social media is awash with videos of protesters marching around their apartment blocks in the snow, always keeping an eye out for the nearest apartment block to dash to for safety. In some Minsk neighborhoods protesters now prefer to stick to the relative safety of their own balconies, coming out night after night to wave flags and chant protest slogans.

Controlling polling stations and trailing opposition leaders is one thing, but even a security apparatus as big as Lukashenko's cannot possibly keep watch over every neighborhood all the time.

Standoff continues with no obvious resolution in sight

Still, Lukashenko remains firmly in control, able to disperse protesters into their neighborhoods and jail his opponents at will. But his political survival has come at a significant cost. No longer recognized by the West as Belarus' legitimate leader, Lukashenko is now more dependent on Russia than ever before and forced to spend ever more on his security services.

One thing most opposition supporters in Belarus can seem to agree on is that while the protests have yet to force change on the country's government, they have had a lasting impact on Belarusians' outlook. Not only has it emboldened them to make their voices heard, it has also given them a stronger sense of Belarusian identity.

As one protester told DW, "before when I traveled abroad I'd say that I was Russian because it was easier, people knew what you meant. To me there wasn't a big difference between being Russian and Belarusian. Now there is."

https://www.dw.com/en/belarus-protesters-in-for-the-long-haul-as-standoff-continues/a-56506256

[BansheeOne]

The latest battlefield in this conflict:

Quote

Date 27.03.2021

Eurovision Song Contest excludes Belarus

Belarus' original entry by band Galasy ZMesta was rejected due to complaints that the lyrics mocked the mass protest against President Lukashenko. A second entry was also rejected by the European Broadcasting Union.

Belarus has been disqualified for a second time from the Eurovision Song Contest after its entry failed to comply with the non-political nature of the competition. 

The country was allowed to submit a new entry two weeks ago, over concerns that their original entry by the band Galasy ZMesta had a political subtext. The second song has also been rejected by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

"It was concluded that the new submission was also in breach of the rules of the competition that ensure the Contest is not instrumentalized or brought into disrepute. As BTRC have failed to submit an eligible entry within the extended deadline, regrettably, Belarus will not be participating in the 65th Eurovision Song Contest in May," said a statement by the Union. 

Galasy ZMesta's first song "Ja nauchu tebja" ("I will teach you") was rejected due to complaints that the lyrics mocked the mass protest movement against long-time Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. 

The entry had received 5,800 likes and more than 40,000 dislikes on the competition’s official YouTube page since Tuesday, with more than half a million views. It has now been taken down from the site.

The new song entry by the same band has also been disqualified by the EBU. The song contest is to be held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, from May 18-22.

https://www.dw.com/en/eurovision-song-contest-excludes-belarus/a-57022229

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 24.04.2021

Belarus: Lukashenko seeks to empower son Viktor on succession

The Belarus strongman want the national security council to take over in case he dies. His eldest son Viktor is seen as the informal leader of the body.

Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus once dubbed Europe's last dictator, said on Saturday that he will change the law to make it easier to hand more power to a state body which includes his son.

"Tell me, if there is no president tomorrow, would you guarantee everything is going to be fine? No," he told reporters during a visit to areas affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

"I will sign a decree about how the power in Belarus will be set up. If the president is shot, the next day the security council will get the power," Lukashenko said, according to the state-run Belta news agency.

Officially, the 66-year-old strongman himself is the head of the national security council, but Viktor also has a seat and is regarded as the council’s informal leader.

Under the current law, presidential powers would be transferred to the country's prime minister. The post is currently held by less known Lukashenko loyalist Roman Golovchenko.

[...]

Last week, Russia arrested two Belarusians who allegedly were leading an attempt to organize a coup and kill Lukashenko.

Lukashenko claims the plot had backing from the United States.

On Saturday, he claimed that NATO planned to send troops into the country if the coup occurred, bringing them to the Russian border.

"It was a springboard, I always told you, to attack Russia. It was the first step," he said.

Despite his declarations of friendship with Russia's President Vladimir Putin, the two men have often clashed in the past. Western leaders fear that Lukashenko will seek much closer ties with Russia after being ostracized by the rest of the international community.

https://www.dw.com/en/belarus-lukashenko-seeks-to-empower-son-viktor-on-succession/a-57325020

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Belarus 'diverts Ryanair flight to arrest journalist', says opposition

23 May 2021, 14:58 BST

Updated 1 minute ago

A Ryanair plane flying from Greece to Lithuania has been diverted to Minsk, with Belarusian opposition figures saying it was done so a dissident journalist on board could be arrested.

The opposition Nexta channel on Telegram said its ex-editor Roman Protasevich had been detained.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda accused Belarus of an "abhorrent action" and demanded his release.

Belarus state media said the plane had been diverted because of a bomb scare.

[...] 

The diversion of Flight FR4978 from Athens to Vilnius on Sunday was visible on the flightradar124 website. It showed the plane turning east to Minsk shortly before it reached the Lithuania border. Ryanair has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Russian media quoted the Minsk airport press service as saying the plane had made an emergency landing following an alleged bomb scare.

Belta, the state-owned news agency in Belarus, said Mr Lukashenko had personally given the order for the plane to land at Minsk following the bomb alert, and that a MiG-29 fighter jet had been despatched to accompany the Ryanair plane.

Nexta said no bomb was found on board and the passengers were searched, after which Mr Protasevich, 26, was detained.

Nexta played a key role for the opposition during the election and in its aftermath.

[...] 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57219860

[Roman Alymov]

1 hour ago, BansheeOne said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57219860

So Lukashenko and his team used best practices of SBU and their collegues in US and Turkey (see Wagnergate), but more professionally.

[Stuart Galbraith]

https://www.bbc.co.uk

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 that a MiG-29 fighter jet had been despatched to accompany the Ryanair plane.

 

I suppose it could have been worse, they might have escorted it with an Su25...

[BansheeOne]

Quote

European fury as Belarus arrests activist after forcing Ryanair flight to land in Minsk

Leaders call for international response to ‘outlandish’ diversion of Athens-Vilnius flight by Lukashenko regime

May 23, 2021 6:06 pm by James Shotter in Warsaw, Max Seddon in Moscow, and Richard Milne in Oslo

European leaders have called for an immediate international response after Belarus forced a Ryanair flight bound for Lithuania to land in Minsk on Sunday and arrested one of its passengers, a top opposition activist.

State media said online activist Roman Protasevich, resident in Lithuania, was detained in the Belarusian capital after Ryanair flight FR4978 from Athens to Vilnius was unexpectedly diverted to Minsk shortly before leaving Belarusian airspace.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that the forced landing was “utterly unacceptable” and called on Belarus to let all passengers travel safely to Vilnius. “Any violation of international air transport rules must bear consequences,” she wrote on Twitter.

Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg tweeted: “This is a serious and dangerous incident, which requires international investigation. The Belarusian authorities must ensure the safe return of the crew and all passengers to Vilnius.”

Dominic Raab, British foreign secretary, said the UK was “alarmed” at reports of the forced landing and Protasevich’s arrest, adding: “We are co-ordinating with our allies. This outlandish action by Lukashenko will have serious implications.”

Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nauseda called for the activist’s swift release and said he would raise the matter at an EU summit on Monday. “I call on Nato and EU allies to immediately react to the threat posed to international civil aviation by the Belarus regime,” he said in a statement.

The Lithuanian foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, said he had spoken to Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, describing the incident as an affront to the whole EU that must be addressed in the strongest possible terms.

Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Twitter that he would call for “immediate sanctions” against Belarus. “Hijacking of a civilian plane is an unprecedented act of state terrorism. It cannot go unpunished,” Morawiecki wrote.

Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, said: “Such an act cannot stand without clear reaction from the European Union.

“The fact that a flight between two EU countries was forced to stop under the pretext of a bomb threat is a serious interference with civil air traffic in Europe. We are very concerned about reports that journalist Roman Protasevich was arrested in this way,” he said. “The upcoming informal European Council should . . . address the incident.”

[...] 

According to messages sent by Protasevich to his colleagues, he noticed he was being followed by a man he suspected was a Belarusian KGB agent while at the Athens departure lounge. The man stood behind him in the boarding queue and tried to take a photo of his documents, the activist wrote in text messages to his colleagues. Protasevich said the man then asked him a “stupid question” in Russian and left.

The plane turned round near the Lithuanian border and landed in Minsk, according to flight tracking data. Andrei Gurtsevich, a senior air force commander, said Belarus had decided to scramble a MiG-29 fighter jet to accompany the plane after learning of a bomb threat”, according to Belta, the state news agency. Airport officials later said the bomb threat was “false”.

Belarusian state television said officials did not know Protasevich was on the flight, claiming that he remained in the airport undetected until his girlfriend sent a photo of him to another dissident blogger.

But a fellow passenger told Lithuanian news site Delfi that Protasevich began panicking when he realised the plane was heading for Minsk, holding his head in his hands.

Once the plane landed, officials immediately detained Protasevich, who was visibly trembling, and seized his luggage, according to the unnamed passenger.

“We asked him what was happening. He said who he was and added: ‘They’ll execute me here,’” Delfi quoted the passenger as saying.

[...] 

https://www.ft.com/content/d8c98692-21c9-47f0-92f5-2c84071b50f4

 

Quote

RYANAIR ‘HIJACK’ TO MINSK COULD HAVE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES FOR BELARUS

Analysis: Belarus airspace could be closed to EU and UK-registered aircraft if claims surrounding flight are substantiated

Simon Caldera Travel Correspondent

2 hours ago

A budget airline flight between two European Union capitals is suddenly diverted on the orders of a third country: today’s diversion to Minsk of Ryanair flight 4978 from Athens to Vilnius looks deeply troubling.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) tweeted that it was “strongly concerned by the apparent forced landing of a Ryanair flight and its passengers, which could be in contravention of the Chicago Convention”.

[...] 

A Ryanair spokesperson said that air-traffic controllers in Belarus told the pilots of a “potential security threat on board” and instructed them “to divert to the nearest airport, Minsk”. Except the aircraft was just 60 miles south of its intended destination, Vilnius, and nearly twice as far from Minsk.

Had a genuine threat been perceived, the obvious course of action would be to continue the short distance to Vilnius.

While the Belarus capital might have been filed as an “alternate” destination in case of problems in Vilnius, there was no clear reason why the Lithuanian airport would not be used: it was operating normally, with a Ryanair flight from Barcelona and an SAS flight from Copenhagen arriving on either side of the appointed time for FR4978 to touch down.

The airline spokesman added: “Ryanair has notified the relevant national and European safety and security agencies.”

Ryanair is the safest airline in the world in terms of the number of passengers flown without a fatality. The incident appears to have been handled professionally by the crew. But anything that interferes with the normal operation of civilian flights is regarded gravely by aviation authorities.

If Belarus invented a security threat to force an EU passenger aircraft to divert for the purposes of arresting an opponent of President Alexander Lukashenko, the consequences could be very serious.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (Easa) would presumably close Belarus airspace to EU-registered aircraft, with the UK and others following suit.

The state airline, Belavia, might be banned from EU airspace and airports.

At a time when aviation is in serious need of stability, this event – and its possible repercussions – could undermine passenger confidence.

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ryanair-diversion-hijack-minsk-belarus-b1852406.html

Diverting a foreign airliner with targets of national prosecution aboard is not completely unprecedented of course. The interception of the Egyptian 737 carrying the Achille Lauro hijackers by US Navy aircraft over the Mediterranean in 1985 springs to mind, though circumstances were a bit different. 

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

[seahawk]

Shows the criminals that they are not save when hiding in the EU. Very well done by Belarus!

[Stuart Galbraith]

Yes, now every nation state will be pulling this stunt every time we dont pay our tax returns, we run a red light or urinate in public. Nice one Belarus, you really have shown the world the way.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Stuart Galbraith

[seahawk]

You mean like the USA when F-14s intercepted an Egyptian  airliner and forced it to land in Italy...

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/when-u-s-navy-f-14-tomcats-intercepted-and-forced-landing-an-egyptian-boeing-737-carrying-the-achille-lauro-cruise-ship-hijackers

Edited May 24, 2021 by seahawk

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 24.05.2021

Belarus: EU calls for international probe into forced landing of Ryanair plane

The EU urged a probe after a Ryanair passenger jet was forced to land in Minsk — in an apparent bid to arrest an activist blogger on board. EU leaders are set to discuss additional sanctions against Belarus.

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell on Monday called for an international investigation after Belarus forced a Ryanair passenger jet to land in Minsk, in an apparent effort to arrest an activist journalist.

"In carrying out this coercive act, the Belarusian authorities have jeopardized the safety of passengers and crew," Borrell said in a statement issued on Monday.

"An international investigation into this incident must be carried out to ascertain any breach of international aviation rules," the statement went on.

The Belarusian Transport Ministry on Monday announced it had set up a commission to carry out its own investigation into the forced landing and would publish the results soon, according to a report by the Russian RIA news agency.

EU to discuss incident at summit

The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, said EU leaders will discuss the incident at an EU summit beginning on Monday, adding that the affair would not remain "without consequences."

He called on the Belarusian authorities to immediately release the detained passenger.

An EU spokesman said the leaders would discuss "possible sanctions" on Belarus. High-level officials in the country have already been sanctioned by the bloc over the brutal repression of the opposition, protesters and journalists following disputed elections in August 2020. 

[...]

What does Ryanair say?

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary told Irish radio station Newstalk that the forced landing "was a case of state-sponsored hijacking ... state-sponsored piracy" carried out to detain a dissident journalist.

O'Leary said his company believed that some Belarusian secret service agents had been on the plane as well.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney echoed O'Leary's remarks, calling the incident "aviation piracy, state-sponsored."

He told state broadcaster RTE that sanctions on Belarus with a "real edge" were needed in response.  

The low-cost airline Ryanair is headquartered in the Irish capital, Dublin.

https://www.dw.com/en/belarus-eu-calls-for-international-probe-into-forced-landing-of-ryanair-plane/a-57639025

[Roman Alymov]

7 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

Yes, now every nation state will be pulling this stunt every time we dont pay our tax returns, we run a red light or urinate in public. Nice one Belarus, you really have shown the world the way.

How short is human memory… Let me quote Rus Foreign minister Lavrov “…..And since this topic is now on everyone's lips, your colleagues, journalists, almost immediately prepared a selection of materials that relate to similar cases that occurred in the past, of which, perhaps, the most famous episode in 2013, when, at the insistence of the United States, Austria forced the plane of the President of Bolivia to land without any subsequent apologies. And the case that is not often talked about is 2016, when the plane of "Belarusian Airlines" was forcibly landed in Kiev, because the Security Service of Ukraine was interested in an Armenian citizen who was on board. This citizen was removed from the flight, and the plane continued its flight, too, without any special apologies.”

Also, this case https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-19905573  Turkish fighter jets have forced a Syrian passenger plane to land at Ankara's airport for investigation, Turkish state media report.