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“In fact, this must be seen unequivocally, as the kidnapping of a person using military force and using false accusations,” Gitanas Nausėda told reporters on Sunday after meeting with the foreign minister.
“There was an unprecedented incident in civil aviation today, when a civilian aircraft was forcibly used by military aircraft and landed in Minsk,” he stressed.
According to preliminary data, there were 171 passengers on the plane, 18 nationalities, of which, according to unconfirmed data, there were 94 Lithuanian citizens on board.
According to G. Nausėda, the forced landing of the plane is related to the arrest of opposition journalist R. Protasevičius.
“Using false information, which was initially about the presence of explosives on the plane, later – about a possible disaster on the plane, using this information, a reason for landing the plane was officially found,” said the President of Lithuania.
According to preliminary data, R. Protasevičius and his girlfriend are not on the plane flying from Minsk to Vilnius.
According to G. Nausėda, Lithuania demands that Belarus immediately release the detained opposition journalist and activist Romanas Protasevičius. If this requirement is not taken into account, the head of state stressed on Sunday night, very severe sanctions could be imposed on Minsk.
“If this is not done, we will be talking about very serious sanctions, which are also at the disposal of the European Union. There are other sanctions or measures that could be applied to the regime, including the recognition of Belarusian airspace as unsafe for civil aviation. Including that Belavia aircraft would lose the right to land at EU and NATO airports. Certainly, a very thorough investigation is needed at the International Civil Aviation Organization, answering the questions of what actually happened, which in In the middle of White Day an act of state terrorism was committed – it must be said, ”G. Nausėda told reporters.
