{"id":538968,"date":"2021-05-24T18:20:46","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T22:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=538968"},"modified":"2021-05-24T18:20:49","modified_gmt":"2021-05-24T22:20:49","slug":"eu-leaders-agree-to-impose-sanctions-on-belarus-after-forced-flight-diversion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/eu-leaders-agree-to-impose-sanctions-on-belarus-after-forced-flight-diversion\/","title":{"rendered":"EU Leaders Agree To Impose Sanctions On Belarus After Forced Flight Diversion"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Feu-leaders-agree-to-impose-sanctions-on-belarus-after-forced-flight-diversion%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=538968&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/A92CC9EE-08F4-4BDF-BA27-9113BA5D580B_1_201_a.jpeg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">European Union leaders decided Monday to impose sanctions against Belarus after the country\u2019s officials forced a civilian plane to land in order to arrest a dissident journalist.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">In an announcement, the European Council <a href=\"https:\/\/www.consilium.europa.eu\/en\/press\/press-releases\/2021\/05\/24\/european-council-conclusions-on-belarus-24-may-2021\/\"><span class=\"s1\">demanded<\/span><\/a> \u201cthe immediate release of [journalist] Raman Pratasevich and [his partner] Sofia Sapega and that their freedom of movement be guaranteed.\u201d They also called \u201con the International Civil Aviation Organization to urgently investigate this unprecedented and unacceptable incident,\u201d as well as on the European Council \u201cto adopt further targeted economic sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">They invited the Council to adopt more listings of individuals and entities \u201cas soon as possible on the basis of the relevant sanctions framework.\u201d The group also called on all European Union-based carriers to avoid flying over Belarus. In addition, they called on the Council to create the measures needed in order to prohibit Belarusian airlines from flying over E.U. airspace \u201cand prevent access to EU airports of flights operated by such airlines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The leaders came to the agreement quickly in response to the unnerving actions of Belarusian authorities over the weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">As The Daily Wire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/state-sponsored-hijacking-belarus-fighter-jet-forces-violent-diversion-of-plane-to-arrest-dissident-journalist\"><span class=\"s1\">reported<\/span><\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"43.149484536082\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>According to the&nbsp;<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-57180275\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>BBC<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>, flight \u201cFR4978 was bound for Lithuania from Greece when it was forced to switch direction for the Belarusian capital Minsk on Sunday so the authorities there could arrest dissident journalist Roman Protasevich, 26.\u201d&nbsp;<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>\u201cThe pilot announced the emergency diversion, but provided no details,\u201d the BBC added, noting that the commercial plane was accompanied by a fighter jet.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>\u201cWe all on the plane had panicked because we thought we were going to crash,\u201d said one passenger, according to&nbsp;<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/International\/ryanair-flight-forced-land-belarus-top-activist-onboard\/story?id=77859336\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>ABC News<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>. \u201cThis was a sudden dive, changing the altitude very drastically. It was very violent. I\u2019ve never felt this on an airplane. Everybody was in shock.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that, according to the chief executive of Ryanair Holdings PLC, the European budget airline \u201cbelieves members of Belarus\u2019 secret service were aboard one of its airliners when the plane was forced by a Belarus jet fighter to divert to the country\u2019s capital of Minsk.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>Michael O\u2019Leary, CEO of Ryanair, described the event as \u201ca case of state-sponsored hijacking.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>According to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/european-airline-wizz-air-redirects-flight-to-avoid-belarus-airspace-11621847226?st=bacq9x9x08dcucp&amp;reflink=article_imessage_share\"><span class=\"s1\">Wall Street Journal<\/span><\/a>, Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian president, ordered the fighter to be scrambled. \u201cAuthorities there then arrested a prominent journalist and opposition activist, before allowing the plane to continue its journey,\u201d the Journal reported. \u201cThe incident has sparked an international outcry and raised questions over the legality of the plane\u2019s grounding and the ramifications for the airline industry.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\">White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/state-sponsored-hijacking-belarus-fighter-jet-forces-violent-diversion-of-plane-to-arrest-dissident-journalist\"><span class=\"s1\">said the event<\/span><\/a> was \u201cshocking\u201d on Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cDiverting a flight between two EU member states for the apparent purpose of arresting a journalist constitutes a brazen affront to international peace and security by the [Lukashenko] regime,\u201d Psaki said during a press briefing. \u201cWe demand an immediate international, transparent and credible investigation of this incident.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Dominic Raab, the United Kingdom\u2019s foreign secretary,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/live\/world-europe-57233134\"><span class=\"s1\">described<\/span><\/a>&nbsp;the Belarusian actions as a \u201creckless and dangerous\u201d breach of international law. France warned that flights by Belavia, the Belarusian carrier, could be prohibited from European Union airspace, while Russia described the Western reaction as \u201cshocking\u201d and \u201chypocritical,\u201d The Daily Wire reported.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">This is the most recent incident involving the assault on free speech in Belarus. In February, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/belarusian-authorities-raid-homes-and-offices-of-journalists-and-activists\"><span class=\"s1\">reported<\/span><\/a> by The Daily Wire, Belarusian authorities raided the homes and offices of activists and journalists.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">As <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/europe-belarus-journalists-18796f3a1b0e421cbfa1f18b3031786d\"><span class=\"s1\">the Associated Press<\/span><\/a> reported at the time, the police \u201csearched the offices of the Belarusian Association of Journalists and the Viasna human rights center as well as the apartments of its members, confiscating their equipment. More than 30 people were briefly detained, and at least three remained in police custody, according to activists.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Belarusian Association of Journalists had its members targeted at the time, as well. Its leader, Andrei Bastunets, was one of the people detained and then released. The association\u2019s Vice President, Boris Goretsky, had his home searched. He responded to the events, saying: \u201cThis is the largest crackdown ever on journalists and rights activists Europe has ever seen\u2026There have been more than 400 detentions of journalists over the last six months, and the authorities aren\u2019t going to stop at that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/span><\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><span>member<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>European Union leaders decided Monday to impose sanctions against Belarus after the country\u2019s officials forced a civilian plane to land in order to arrest a dissident journalist.In an announcement, the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2312867,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/A92CC9EE-08F4-4BDF-BA27-9113BA5D580B_1_201_a.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"EU Leaders Agree To Impose Sanctions On Belarus After Forced Flight Diversion","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-538968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/A92CC9EE-08F4-4BDF-BA27-9113BA5D580B_1_201_a.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"EU Leaders Agree To Impose Sanctions On Belarus After Forced Flight Diversion","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2312867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}