TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th May, 2021) Canada is examining options for imposing additional sanctions on Belarus over the Ryanair airplane emergency landing incident in Minsk, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.
"The behavior of the Belarus regime is outrageous, illegal and completely unacceptable... Canada has existing sanctions in place against Belarus and will be examining further options," Trudeau told reporters.
Canada's prime minister called Sunday's incident, in which a Ryanair plane en route from Athens to Vilnius had to make an emergency landing in Minsk on Sunday over a false bomb threat, an "attack" on democracy and freedom of the press.
Canadian officials and Western allies maintain that the target of the alleged staged grounding was journalist Roman Protasevich, the founder of a Telegram channel that Minsk has designated as an extremist entity.
Trudeau's comments coincided with Minsk's decision to close Belarusian embassy in Ottawa.
"The government of the Republic of Belarus has taken decision to close the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in Canada," the diplomatic mission said in a statement. "The Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in Canada suspends its activity on September 1, 2021."
The Belarusian embassy did not provide a reason for the decision in its statement, only saying that consular service would be halted on July 10 and consular functions of the diplomatic mission will be performed by the country's consulate in New York thereafter.
Belarus' withdrawal from Canada comes a day after Minsk and Riga expelled the other's ambassadors and diplomatic staff, following a provocation in which Riga Mayor Martins Stakis replaced the Belarusian state flag with a red-white flag used by the country's opposition.
Canada does not maintain a diplomatic presence in Belarus.
The Prime Minister's Office referred Sputnik's request for comment to Global Affairs Canada. The foreign ministry has not responded to Sputnik's query at the time of publication.
