Belarus forced a passenger plane en route from Athens to Vilnius to land in Minsk in order to arrest a journalist critical of the government.
According to state media, an MiG-29 was used to intercept the plane and land it in Minsk.
Greece's foreign minister Nikos Dendias spoke by phone with Lithuania FM Glands Bergis, who informed him on the conditions under which the Ryanair aircraft was forced to land in Minsk and on the Lithuanian side's efforts to transport passengers to Vilnius.
The European Union said the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Belarus to detain an opposition activist on-board has been described as “utterly unacceptable” by the European Commission president. Journalist, blogger and activist Roman Protasevich who ran an opposition social media Telegram channel called Nexta, was detained on arrival at the airport.
Roman Protasevich, the Vilnius-based arrested journalist, now faces a death penalty.
He is a known supporter of opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
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