Roman Protasevich

World

BELARUS

EU ministers agree on major Belarusian economic sanctions package

The Nomad Today/dpa 6/21/21

"I think these are sanctions that will hurt. And I hope they hurt so much that they bring the regime to its knees," said Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.

FILED - A man boards a Belavia flight in Minsk in 2012. The European Union will seal off its skies and runways to Belarusian airlines as of Saturday in response to the forced diversion of a Ryanair flight and detention of a dissident journalist and his girlfriend last month. Photo: picture alliance / dpa

World

CONFLICT

EU bans Belarus airlines from its airspace after journalist's arrest

The Nomad Today/dpa 6/5/21

The 27 countries are obliged to deny permission to land in, take off from or overfly their territories to any aircraft operated by Belarusian air carriers.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends the Victory Day parade, which marks the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Minsk, Belarus May 9, 2020. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

World

TO PARLIAMENT

Lukashenko: Activist on plane forced to land was 'terrorist'

The Nomad Today/dpa 5/26/21

"That the plane was forced to land by a MiG-29 fighter jet is an absolute lie!" said Lukashenko. Belarus acted for safety reasons, he said, because the plane flew over the country's nuclear power…

25 May 2021, Poland, Warsaw: Demonstrators hold portraits of Belarusian political prisoners during a protest in front of the embassy of Belarus to demand freedom for political prisoners detained in Belarus after the arrest of Roman Protasevich, a prominent Belarusian opposition Journalist. Photo: Aleksander Kalka/ZUMA Wire/dpa

World

'STATE HIJACKING'

Fears grow that detained Belarusian journalist subject to torture

The Nomad Today/dpa 5/26/21

Lufthansa, Air France and Finnair are the latest airlines to announce that they would be avoiding flying over Belarus for the time being.

24 May 2021, Berlin: The national flag of Belarus flies in front of the Belarusian embassy in Berlin. The EU has strongly condemned the forced landing of a scheduled flight by Belarusian authorities in Minsk and held out the prospect of sanctions against those responsible. Belarusian authorities dispatched a fighter jet to force a Ryanair flight to divert to Minsk, where Roman Protasevich, a Belarusian journalist and opposition activist, who was on board was then arrested. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa

World

EU leaders weigh Belarus sanctions after forced landing scandal

The Nomad Today/dpa 5/24/21

Governments and officials said the incident was a state "hijacking" of a commercial flight between two EU countries.

23 May 2021, Ukraine, KieV: Demonstrators hold Belarusian flags during a rally calling for the release of Roman Protasevich, a Belarusian journalist and opposition activist arrested in Belarus, outside the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. Photo: -/Ukrinform/dpa

World

UPDATE

Belarus activist arrested after fighter jet intercepts Ryanair flight

The Nomad Today/dpa 5/23/21

Governments across Europe reacted with outrage, suggesting authoritarian Belarus used the pretext of a safety threat to conduct a "state hijacking" of a civilian airliner in order to go after a…