Minister: the answers about the conflict inside the plane are already clear, the question about the team’s motives is under discussion

In the “Facts and Opinions” program, the Minister of Transport and Communications, Marius Skuodis, says that currently there are many important questions and discrepancies that simply need to be clarified.

“There are a number of circumstances that cast doubt on the safety of Belarusian airspace. We have a group of questions that we will ask and ask. One of those questions was whether the pilot had all the necessary information. Here we see a very clear discrepancy. When Belarus says he has not been able to contact a Ryanair office who may have been asked which airport to fly to, the head of Ryanair says that is not true.

The second is the information that has appeared in the media. Why the Belarusian authorities informed the pilot half an hour before receiving the official threat, at least [kaip matyti] of public information. This is a good question that needs an answer. Another thing, if there is a suspicion that there is an explosive on the plane, why our passengers were not evacuated and some disembarked from the plane, why the plane was right next to the passenger terminal, where there is a much greater threat in the event of an explosion. There are many questions that call into question the interpretation of the incident that Minsk presented to us, ”says the minister.

There has never been such an event

According to him, there was no such event in the history of aviation.

“You see, there have been no such events in the history of civil aviation, that the plane can land, yes, it can, but after that part of the passengers do not continue their journey, it has not been. Nor has there been such a study.

We will also listen to our researchers because they really have a lot of material that is not publicly available; One circumstance is that we enter unknown waters. There may be several solutions, the international community has already stated that it has been treated incorrectly, the second step is whether it is necessary to change the norms of international law so that such cases do not occur again ”, says the Minister.

Lack of government information

Reviewer Ramūnas Bogdanas is surprised that there is no information from the government.

“Taking the opportunity to have a minister here, I would like to say that I am very disappointed with the openness of the Lithuanian government on this issue: we do not get anything from the Lithuanian state institutions, only fragments, and everything else can be found on Russian channels, they advertise, they interpret, Belarus also provides their covers, and you just talk and don’t even say who the pilot was, who owns the plane where it is registered. I don’t see it as a state or investigative secret. They all hide the fact that that an investigation is underway, but if the pilot has behaved correctly, if he can confirm that there are some key problems. For example, the question of a fighter seems fundamental to me. If the dispatcher recommended him to land, he should land, although the final decision is always made by the pilot in command, ”says R. Bogdan.

The minister says that revealing too much information could jeopardize the investigation.

“You know, I accept Mr. Bogdan’s opening criticism. But knowing certain details, I am afraid of revealing and harming the people who work and conduct the investigation. Regarding the plane, I can only repeat what Anušauskas said – both objects were in the air at the same time, and at what distance – I hope the investigators can comment ”, replied the Minister.

“The answers to the conflict inside the plane are already clear and I hope that the investigators can answer very clearly what was and what was not,” added the minister.

Journalist Jaumien: The truth is simply not in the Belarusian prison

Journalist Nastassia Jaumien says she also has many questions, but understands that there is still a wait.

“It would be interesting to know what are the results of the investigation that was carried out there, but I understand the Minister and I can also hear the criticisms of Ramūnas. I think we still have to wait so long, I also wonder what happened on the plane. As we know , Belarusian state media reported that an email was sent, which allegedly went to the Minsk airport with threats from Hamas, but as we know, the letter arrived 24 minutes after the decision to fly to Minsk, “the journalist said. .

Despite all the problems related to the plane, there are many doubts about the fate of Romanas Pratasevičius himself.

“Unfortunately, we know very little about what is happening with Raman and Sofia, because the lawyers have not yet had the opportunity to contact either. [naujausiomis žiniomis, su R. Pratasevičiumi advokatas susisiekė ketvirtadienio vakarą – Delfi]. We can take all the information from a record that was published in the Belarusian official media, and from that record we see that he was clearly beaten, there are such traces on our face, we see that Raman did not see himself as he is. As for what can be expected of him if he is on the list of terrorists in Belarus, in the history of Belarus he ended with the death penalty, and terrorism is one of the articles according to which everything can end with the penalty of death; for Sofia, a slightly different story. An attempt is being made to attribute activities to him on the Telegram channel. This channel allows information about police officers, other people who may have been involved in the repression in Belarus, the government does not like these channels very much. As we know, this is a lie, because Sofia is just a student and has not done those things, but of course there is no truth in the Belarusian prison and there is no way to protect herself, ”says Nastassia Jaumien.

“It seems to me that this was a very big blow for Lukashenko, and all the global media wrote, even those who did not know much about what was happening in Belarus will now know for sure.”

Minister M. Skuodis emphasizes that we are currently seeing a very strong international reaction.

“We have a fact that has made Belarusian airspace unpredictable, and predictability in civil aviation is one of the essential elements for its use. Here is a part, as we can see, Belarusian airspace is being avoided, to Except for some flights Lithuania has also banned transit flights by Belarusian airlines, as have Poland and some other countries.

Here, we are already implementing the European Council decision to block EU airspace for Belarusian airlines, all airlines, and we can treat this as a sanction. If the first is more security, then this is already a sanction. One more thing I want to emphasize. I have not remembered such a united reaction from our international partners in the last period, “said the Minister.

Bogdan: the only path left is mother Russia

When asked what the consequences of this story could be, Bogdan assured that Belarus would certainly benefit from it.

“You know, Lukashenko has managed more than once to fool Putin in the last minute. It could be that something occurs to him again. If we talk about what will happen now, I think these sanctions and the reaction are quite controversial. On the one hand, you can’t help but answer, because this is exactly the same thing a hooligan would do to you: would you clean up, pretending a holy peace, that nothing happened because he lives in the neighborhood and other hooligans would look at you and I think it would be possible to repeat if he would react in any way and be an example to others. In this case, if we do nothing, we are encouraging other authoritarian or dictatorial countries that have political enemies to like this method. Another thing that is isolating Belarus is that we are imposing it even more on North Korea in Europe. Now Lukashenko can say that I am not the one who will not let you enter Europe, here they have closed to you, they will no longer allow us to take you by plane. Then the only way is to be a mother of Russia. “