All three presidents are calling for those abducted to be released, for the closure of Belarusian airspace and for effective sanctions to be implemented.
The working meeting convened by the Estonian head of state focussed on potential countermeasures and a unified stance in response to the events that took place in Belarus yesterday.
“An undisguised act of terrorism perpetrated by the state – a hijacking – is a new weapon in the arsenal of even the most seasoned dictator,” President Kaljulaid remarked after the meeting. “It is time for the rest of the world to stop treating the Belarusian regime with kid gloves. We must utilise all of the peaceful means at our disposal to place pressure on it. Yesterday’s incident, which placed the lives of 171 passengers in danger and which resulted in at least two individuals being abducted from the aircraft, must not go unpunished.”
In the view of the three Baltic heads of state, the following must be done without delay:
1. The passengers abducted from the flight must be released.
2. Belarusian airspace must be closed to international flights and flight connections with Belarus terminated.
3. Powerful and effective sanctions must be established against those behind this act of terrorism and the Belarusian regime at the European Union level.
“Unfortunately, citizens of the European Union can no longer consider Belarus a safe space, be it on the ground or in the air,” President Kaljulaid said during the meeting. “For this reason I furthermore deem it sensible to terminate any and all transit via Belarus. Like any sanctions, this will inevitably have some impact on EU Member States, on our companies and our people, but we cannot put people’s lives at risk. Yesterday showed us that that risk is real.”
As a member of the UN Security Council, Estonia plans to launch a debate within the council at the earliest opportunity regarding the events that took place in Belarus yesterday. EU heads of government will be discussing these matters at the European Council in Brussels today.
A Ryanair plane which took off from Athens on Sunday destined for Vilnius was forced by the Belarusian authorities to turn back prior to crossing the Lithuanian border and make an emergency landing in Minsk. Following the landing, one of the passengers, Belarusian opposition activist and journalist Raman Pratasevich, was detained. There were 171 passengers on board the flight, more than half of whom were from Lithuania. Among the other passengers were citizens of Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Georgia, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain and Syria.
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