Belarus: President Lukashenko persists on the bomb threat in the hijacked plane
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk on February 11, 2021 © Sergei Sheleg / AP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The Belarusian regime is accused of having deliberately hijacked an airliner on Sunday 23 May 2021 to arrest a young opponent.
But he persists and maintains his version of the facts.
It is the turn of President Alexander Lukashenko to put forward the thesis of the bomb threat, and the terrorist threat hanging over the plane chartered by the company Ryanair
Publicity
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With our regional correspondent,
Daniel Vallot
The Belarusian president therefore claims to have acted "
legally
".
He was speaking this Wednesday morning in front of the Parliament of his country.
It was Alexander Lukashenko's first intervention since the scandal broke.
And for him, there is no question of going back on the initial version of the Belarusian authorities.
“
The bomb threat was sent from Switzerland, and was received simultaneously in Athens, Vilnius and Minsk.
The information was transmitted to the crew in accordance with international rules.
Whether or not it is Hamas, it does not matter!
In the air, 123 passengers and six crew members were under the threat of a bomb ... and on the ground, nearby was the Belarusian nuclear power plant
, said President Lukashenko
.
So it was my responsibility to protect people.
I acted legally, for the protection of my people.
"
Offensive on Western countries
Alexander Lukashenko was very offensive towards Western countries which accuse the Belarusian authorities of having invented this bomb threat in order to be able to seize
the opponent Roman Protassevich
who was on the plane.
“
Our adversaries from abroad and from within the country have changed their method of attacking our country
,” declares the Belarusian president in particular. This cold and even “
icy
” war waged against his country would serve, according to him, as a “
theater of experimentation to then go east
”. Russia is not mentioned explicitly, but it is indeed the Russian neighbor in question. Russia whose support has become crucial for the survival of the regime. Alexander Lukashenko is also expected this Friday in Sochi, to meet Vladimir Poutine.
While the Kremlin says there is no reason not to believe the Belarusian explanation, for their part, the EU, UK and Ukraine have closed their airspace to Belarusian planes in retaliation.
The UN Security Council is holding an emergency closed-door informal meeting on the subject on Wednesday.
►Also read: Plane intercepted by Belarus: the European Union sees red
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Belarus
Aeronautics
Transport
Alexander Lukashenko
Russia
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