MAY 28, 2021
Belarus’s forced diversion of a commercial Ryanair flight under false pretenses, traveling between two member states of the European Union, and the subsequent removal and arrest of Raman Pratasevich, a Belarusian journalist, are a direct affront to international norms. These events took place amid an escalating wave of repression by the Lukashenka regime against the aspirations of the people of Belarus for democracy and human rights. In response to the events of May 23 and the Lukashenka regime’s continuing attack on fundamental freedoms, the United States is taking the following actions:
The United States has joined the public condemnation of the events of May 23 at the United Nations (UN), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Group of Seven (G7), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). We will continue to advocate at these bodies for action against the Lukashenka reg
In a dramatic incident that send shockwaves across the world, a Ryanair flight FR4978 carrying passengers from Athens to Vilnius was diverted to the Belarusian capital Minsk under the escort of a Mig-29 fighter jet. Activist Roman Pratasevich, who is a critic of the Belarus government was detained by Belarusian authorities. The Belarusian Presidential press…
The brazen May 23 seizure of a commercial Ryanair flight by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has prompted international outrage and condemnation.
Read more about US announces sanctions on Belarus over dissident journalist s detention on Business Standard. Belarus earlier this week forced the landing of a jetliner carrying Pratasevich, a Belarusian journalist and outspoken critic of the Lukashenko regime, as it was traveling between Greece and Lithuania