EU Leaders To Discuss Ryanair Plane Incident, Possible Sanctions On Minsk On Monday - EUCO - UrduPoint

The head of the European Council Charles Michel agreed to discuss the consequences of the Ryanair plane incident and possible sanctions against Belarus at the upcoming EU summit on Monday, Michel's official spokesman Barend Leyts announced on Sunday.

"Update on #EUCO. @eucopresident will put tomorrow the question of the forced landing of #Ryanair flight in Minsk. Consequences and possible sanctions will be discussed at this occasion," Leyts tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated that he requested to include the issue of immediate sanctions on Belarus in the meeting's agenda, including banning Belarusian carriers from the EU airspace.

On Sunday, the press service of the Minsk National Airport told Sputnik that a Ryanair plane en route from Athens to Vilnius had to make an emergency landing in Minsk over a bomb threat, which later turned out to be fake. A fighter jet was deployed to escort the plane. It was reported later that Roman Protasevich, founder of the Telegram channel Nexta, tagged as extremist by Minsk, was detained during the stopover at the airport. He may face up to 15 years in jail.

The plane was cleared for take off from Minsk on Sunday evening and arrived in Vilnius at 18:27 GMT. The Minsk airport insisted that the decision to land in Belarus was made by the Ryanair captain and according to the international law.