UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th May, 2021) Current and former European member states at the UN Security Council - Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, the United Kingdom - and the United States said on Wednesday they will ensure that Belarus is held responsible for the forced landing of the Ryanair commercial aircraft in Minsk.
"We will enhance our efforts, including through coordination of our sanctions policies to ensure that the Belarusian authorities bear responsibility for their actions," the countries said in a statement.
The statement strongly condemned the diversion of the flight with 132 people on board to Minsk National Airport and the arrest of two passengers - opposition journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, Sofia Sapega.
"We fully condemn this as yet another blatant attempt by the Belarusian authorities to silence all opposition voices," the statement said.
It called on the International Civil Aviation Organization to urgently probe the incident and promote full accountability for those responsible.
In the statement, the six countries also demanded the immediate release of Protasevich and Sapega.
On Sunday, a Vilnius-bound Ryanair plane traveling from Athens was grounded in Minsk over a bomb threat which later turned out to be false. Among the passengers was Protasevich, a co-founder of a Telegram channel that Minsk designated as extremist, who was detained during the stopover.
