Belarus accused of forced landing of passenger planes Protests around the world

Lukashenko's administration in the former Soviet Union and Belarus forced a passenger plane to land and detained anti-government journalists, and as the criticism of the international community increased, protests were held all over the world on the 29th in response to the anti-government's call. It is expected to be done.

Belarusian Lukashenko government forced an international passenger plane to land at an airport in the capital Minsk and detained anti-government journalist Protasevic on board, and anti-government Chihanovskaya said on the 29th. We are calling for protests around the world.

Mr. Tschihanovskaya urged supporters and others in the Netherlands, where he is staying on the 28th, to continue protests against the Lukashenko administration without giving up.

In Minsk, the capital of Belarus, marches have already begun in small groups while being wary of security authorities, and protests will be held in Lithuania and Poland.

Russia's Putin, whose G7 = seven major countries are expected to take up the situation at the summit meeting next month, and President Lukashenko is also behind Belarus, as the international community criticizes the Lukashenko administration. It will be on the agenda at the first summit meeting with the president.

Background of forced landing

Belarusian aviation authorities have released English communication records between airliner pilots and controllers in the capital Minsk.

According to it, Ireland's Ryanair Boeing 737-800 aircraft took off from Athens, the capital of Greece, and headed for Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, after 10 am on the 23rd.

Approximately two hours after takeoff, the pilot told the Minsk controller that he would enter the Belarusian airspace from the Ukrainian airspace.

In response, the controller said, "According to the information from the special agency, a bomb may be set on the plane and it may be launched over Vilnius," and recommended to land in Minsk for safety.

When the pilot asked, "Where did the information come from?", The controller replied, "The airport security staff received the email," and reminded me to land in Minsk.

The pilot then asks if the recommendation is made by Ryanair's headquarters or by the aviation authorities in Greece and Lithuania, but the controller said, "This is our recommendation." I unilaterally replied.

The pilot finally declared the airliner in an emergency and landed in Minsk about 30 minutes later.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko revealed in a speech on the 26th that an Air Force fighter was dispatched to monitor passenger planes during the landing.

According to the private website "Flight Radar 24", which publishes the flight course of passenger aircraft, Ryanair suddenly turned east and headed for Minsk just before entering Lithuanian airspace in a few tens of kilometers. I understand.

Also, in an e-mail released by Belarusian aviation authorities at the same time as the communication record, a sender claiming to be a soldier of an Islamic fundamentalist organization demanded that Israel stop firing on the Gaza Strip, and Ryan Air planes were told. A bomb has been set up, threatening to explode over Belarus.

However, in the end, the bomb was not found, and international criticism of Belarus increased, with EU-European Union President Von der Leyen harshly criticizing it as "a hijacking by the state."

EU "unprecedented situation" strongly condemned

Following the forced landing of a passenger plane by Belarusian authorities, the EU-European Union has strongly accused it of "an unprecedented situation that has endangered the lives of passengers and crew," and has given economic sanctions and authorities to Belarusian authorities. We have decided to impose sanctions on people who are freezing their assets and banning travel within the EU.

In addition, Belarusian airlines have also banned flights in EU airspace and landing at airports in the region.

Also, on the 26th, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, which is in charge of EU aviation administration, recommended that airlines arriving and departing in the region avoid flying in Belarus' territory.

The EU aims to ensure the safety of passengers and crew, but for Belarus, it will have an impact such as the airline not paying the airspace transit fee.

On the other hand, these measures have also disrupted aircraft operations.

Air France and Austrian Airlines tried to operate the aircraft on a route avoiding Belarus' airspace according to the recommendation, but some flights to Moscow etc. because the Russian aviation authorities of Belarus' friendly country did not allow this. The flight was forced to be suspended.