International probe needed in forced landing of Ryanair plane: EU

Former editor of Belarusian opposition Telegram channel ‘@nexta_tv’ Roman Protassevitch during Freedom Day rally. Pic/AFP

President of the European Council, Charles Michel called for an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) probe into an emergency landing of a Ryanair passenger plane at Minsk Airport over a bomb threat that later turned out to be fake.

An unregistered Belarusian human rights organisation said earlier in the day that Roman Protasevich - founder of a telegram channel that Minsk designated as extremist - was on board of a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius and got detained in Minsk airport when the plane made an emergency landing. The Belarusian Interior Ministry confirmed the detention of Protasevich.

"Very concerned regarding reports of a forced landing of #Ryanair flight in Minsk. We call on Belarus authorities to immediately release the flight and all its passengers. An #ICAO investigation of the incident will be essential," Michel said on Twitter.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas also called on the EU to conduct an international investigation into the emergency landing of the Ryanair plane in Minsk. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg slammed Minsk's actions as "dangerous" and noted that the incident will require further investigations. Agencies

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‘Very concerned regarding reports of a forced landing of #Ryanair flight in Minsk. We call on Belarus authorities to immediately release the flight and all its passengers. An #ICAO investigation of the incident will be essential' - Charles Michel, president of the European Council

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