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Belarus's President Lukaschenko, who has been in power for 27 years and is called the'last dictator of Europe', has been criticized by the international community for forcibly landing a civilian aircraft in Ireland to arrest journalists who have encouraged anti-government protests.
Reporter Jeon Hyeong-woo reports.
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European Union member states held an extraordinary meeting and criticized the Belarusian government for forcibly landing foreign civil aircraft.
EU leaders discussed ways to ban Belarusian airlines from flying over EU airspace or accessing airports.
The EU, Britain, Germany and Italy strongly condemned the Belarusian ambassador.
[Charles Michel/President of the EU Summit: European citizens are in danger. This incident is a threat to international security.] The
White House in the United States also criticized the Belarusian Lukasenko regime, saying it "requires an immediate, transparent and reliable investigation."
Latvia and Belarus expelled all diplomats from each other in this incident.
The Belarusian government forced a passenger flight from Athens, Greece to Lithuania, to land at Minsk Airport on Sunday.
Air force fighters were also put in and convoys were carried out.
[Forced landing Ryanair passengers: When he heard that he would land at Minsk Airport, Raman Pratasevich stood up and tried to open the luggage compartment door and divide his luggage.]
The Belarusian government announced that "a forced landing was carried out because of the terror threat from the armed Palestinian faction Hamas."
However, no signs of terror were found, and Raman Pratasevich, a journalist and opposition man, was arrested on board in exile in Poland.