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The ministry said it was making such a recommendation in light of events on Sunday, when a Ryanair passenger plane flying from Athens to Vilnius was forcibly landed.
According to the report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, taking into account the resulting threat to the safety and life of the people, the Ministry “strongly recommends that Lithuanian citizens do not go to the Republic of Belarus and leave the country for citizens of the Republic of Belarus. Republic of Lithuania “.
On Sunday afternoon, a Ryanair passenger plane flying from Athens to Vilnius landed at Minsk airport. He had approached Lithuanian airspace, but was forced to head to the capital of Belarus.
Ryanair reported that the plane landed at Minsk airport because Belarusian air dispatchers reported a possible security threat on board. This information was not confirmed later.
The plane was piloted by R. Pratasevičius, a Belarusian opposition activist and blogger and founder of the Nexta information channel. When the plane landed in Minsk, he was detained, as was his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, a Russian citizen and a student at the European University of Humanities in Vilnius.
Last year, the founders of Nexta, Sciapan Pucil, 22, and R. Pratasevich, 26, were included by Belarus in the list of “people involved in terrorist activities”, and the channel itself was declared “extremist” . and ordered to be blocked.
According to Lithuanian data, there were 171 passengers on the plane, including 94 Lithuanian citizens, as well as 11 Greeks, nine French, several Belarusians, Poles, Romanians, Germans, Latvians, Russians, as well as citizens of Sacartwell and other countries. .
On Sunday evening, the plane returned from Minsk to Vilnius.
The incident was condemned by NATO, the European Commission and some EU leaders.
