Belarus forces Ryanair plane bound for Vilnius to land, infuriating Lithuania
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ordered a Ryanair flight headed for Lithuania and carrying a young opposition blogger to land in Belarus on Sunday and detained him on arrival, prompting Lithuania to call for a NATO response.
Law enforcers detained activist Roman Protasevich, 26, who had been put on a wanted list after last year’s mass street protests following an election in which Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory.
The aircraft, flying from Athens to Vilnius, had almost reached Lithuania when it changed direction and was escorted to the Belarusian capital of Minsk amid reports that it had explosives on board, according to an online flight tracker and BelTA. Lukashenko personally ordered the warplane to escort the Boeing to Minsk, state news agency BelTA reported.
