EU Demands Belarus Explain Diversion of Plane, Detention of Journalist
Voice of America
European Union governments are demanding an immediate explanation from Belarus about the diversion of a Lithuanian-bound flight to Minsk, where authorities arrested one of its passengers, opposition activist and journalist Raman Pratasevich.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said the commercial flight was directed to land "by force," while Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the event a "reprehensible act of state terrorism." Nauseda slammed the arrest of Pratasevich and said the international community “must take immediate steps that this does not repeat." His reaction came in an e-mailed statement quoted by Reuters that followed his initial reaction to the incident on Twitter. Mateusz said on Twitter that he has asked the European Council's president to discuss immediate sanctions against Belarus during a meeting scheduled for May 24.
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