European Union Cuts Air Links With Belarus Over Forced Plane Landing

Strongman Alexander Lukashenko sparked international outrage by dispatching a fighter jet Sunday to intercept a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius carrying wanted reporter Roman Protasevich, 26, and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega.

EU leaders agreed to cut air links with Belarus on Monday, as leader Alexander Lukashenko's regime paraded a dissident journalist arrested after his flight was forced to land in Minsk. Strongman Lukashenko sparked international outrage by dispatching a fighter jet Sunday to intercept a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius carrying wanted reporter Roman Protasevich, 26, and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega. European leaders meeting in Brussels hit back by agreeing to ban Belarusian airlines from the bloc's airspace and urged EU-based carriers not to fly over its airspace. The bloc also said it would adopt further "targeted economic sanctions" against the Belarusian authorities to add to the 88 regime figures and seven companies already on a blacklist over a crackdown on opposition.