NATO chief calls Belarus’ diversion of flight 'state hijacking'

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - NATO ambassadors will discuss the forced diversion of passenger flight to Minsk, the military alliance’s chief said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a joint news conference after meeting with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the incident a “state hijacking.”

He also explained that the events demonstrated that the Belarussian regime instead of protecting basic democratic rights, “cracks down on freedom of expression and media.”

Stoltenberg called for the immediate release of detained journalist Raman Pratasevich and his companion.

He also welcomed the decision of EU leaders to prepare further sanctions against the regime and to close the bloc’s airspace to Belarussian airlines.

Stoltenberg said the North Atlantic Council – the alliance’s main political decision-making body composed of NATO ambassadors – would discuss the incident at their meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

The NATO chief also pointed out that Russia’s “pattern of aggressive actions”, including the recent military build-up in and around Ukraine, as well as the spread of misinformation on vaccines, pose a serious concern for the allied countries.

On Sunday, citing a “bomb threat,” a Belarussian MIG-29 fighter jet forced a Ryanair plane passing through Belarus' airspace to land, and then detained passenger Pratasevich, a journalist wanted for his involvement in a “terrorist incident.”

Protasevich is the founder of the social media news channel NEXTA, which played a major role in protests last summer demanding the resignation of President Lukashenko after the contested Aug. 9 elections.