The European Union decided to close its airspace and airports to Belarusian airlines, against the backdrop of forcibly diverting a flight to its capital, Minsk, and the arrest of an opposition journalist who was on board.
On Monday, European officials published the Belarus part of the statement of the European summit held in Brussels, which was approved by the gathering leaders.
The leaders condemned the Belarus authorities for forcing the plane from Athens to Vilnius in Lithuania to land in Minsk, citing a bomb report.
European leaders demanded the immediate release of opposition journalist Roman Protasevic and his girlfriend.
The leaders of the European Union decided to punish Belarus and prevent its flights from flying in its airspace (Al-Jazeera)
The statement stipulated the imposition of new sanctions on Belarus and the closure of the European field to airlines belonging to this country.
The leaders of the European Union also called for additional sanctions to be imposed on persons and entities in Belarus as soon as possible, to avoid flying over these countries and to prevent their aircraft from using European airspace and airports.
Several airlines have already blacklisted Belarus airspace.
European leaders also called on the International Civil Aviation Organization to conduct an investigation into the incident of the Belarus interception of a civilian airliner, and said it was about an unacceptable precedent.
European capitals have summoned Belarus ambassadors accredited and demanded the immediate release of the opposition journalist.
And last Sunday, a MiG-29 fighter plane, upon personal order of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, intercepted a Ryan Air plane that was in the airspace of Belarus during a regular flight between Athens and Vilnius, Lithuania. .
As soon as the plane landed at Minsk airport, the security forces arrested Roman Protasevic, a journalist in exile in Lithuania, whom the authorities accuse of being involved in "terrorist activities", and is now under pretrial detention in a prison in Minsk.
Protasevic was the editor-in-chief of the opposition station Nexa, which played a major role in organizing the historic protest movement against Lukashenko during the presidential elections last year.
The President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko was the one who directed the interception and arrest of the journalist's plane (Al-Jazeera)
The United States condemned the "forcible diversion of a plane," and described the White House spokeswoman, Jane Saki, as a shocking act and a shameful insult to international peace and security.
She said that Washington is calling for an international investigation into the incident.
In response to international criticism of it, Minsk said it was ready to cooperate in an impartial investigation into the incident, which appeared to be a coordinated and orchestrated kidnapping.
Protasevic appeared in a video posted on the Internet Monday, in which he says he is in good health and admits to playing a role in organizing the mass protests in Minsk last year.
His supporters immediately rejected this confession, saying he made it under duress.
President Alexander Lukashenko, 66, faced the biggest challenge to his nearly 27-year rule from protesters who took to the streets after declaring his victory in last year's election saying it was rigged.
The authorities have arrested about 35,000 people since the demonstrations began in August 2020. Lukashenko denies rigging the elections and accuses the West of supporting the demonstrations.