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“I am very sincerely grateful for the support of Austria and many other European and world countries to Lithuania in surviving this regime-supported terrorist attack. The EU has responded more quickly and energetically than ever, and I am sure our skies will be a little safer after this painful lesson, “the prime minister said at a forum in Austria on Saturday.
I. Šimonytė said it may appear that “the dictators in Minsk and Moscow, at the cost of human lives and freedoms, are far from some European capitals,” but Vilnius was only a three-hour direct flight from Athens.
“The Belarusian regime has decided to forcibly land a Ryanair plane and take hundreds of EU citizens hostage to detain a young journalist, Roman Protasevich, whom Lukashenko considers an enemy of the state. Although Lukashenko himself has been for a long time an enemy of his people, “said the Head of the Government of Lithuania. He also stressed that in supporting each other in the face of terrorism, European countries must not forget that the people of Belarus “have been experiencing this terror for more than a quarter of a century and it is growing” since the unacknowledged presidential elections in the West.
“Since then, the regime has violently removed crowds from the streets of Minsk and other Belarusian cities. Unfortunately, the suffering of the Belarusian people continues. We can see him looking at the masked bruises on the face and hands of R. Protasevičius and on the Sofia Sapega’s eyes, when after physical and psychological torture they “confess” crimes they never committed, “said the Prime Minister.
He asked how Europe would react to the events in Belarus, noting that the reaction would determine the fate and character of the Community.
“Do we really act in accordance with our values, or do we continue to enjoy these values in our privileged club, seeing them step on our side?” Asked the Lithuanian Prime Minister rhetorically.
The EU and other Western countries have been increasing pressure on Belarus since last August’s presidential elections, which were won by authoritarian leader Aliaksandr Lukashenko. The West does not recognize its legitimacy.
Tensions escalated when a Ryanair passenger plane flying from Athens to Vilnius landed in Minsk on May 23 and opposition blogger R. Protasevičius and his friend S. Sapega were detained at the airport.
As a result of the incident, EU leaders instructed the EU institutions to draft more “targeted economic sanctions” against the Belarusian authorities and to expand the “black list” of those accused of cracking down on the opposition.
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