DISINFO: The West applies double standards on the Ryanair landing in Minsk
SUMMARY
The coordinated reaction from representatives of several Western countries and international organisations as EU, NATO and OSCE is surprising. They demand the release of the detained R. Pratasevich and severe sanctions against Belarus and the airline Belavia. They reacted entirely different to similar events in other countries. There is a plethora of such examples.
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We call upon our Western partners to refrain from using double standards [...].
RESPONSE
Disinformation about the forced diversion and landing of Ryanair flight 4978.
On Sunday, May 23, 2021, the Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was forced to turn back before crossing the Lithuanian border and land in the Belarusian capital. The pretext for landing in Minsk was a false report about a bomb on board. At the moment when the plane changed course, it was closer to Vilnius airport than to Minsk. The plane was forced to land in the Belarusian capital by a Belarusian military aircraft. Belarusian dissident journalist Roman Protasevich was detained in the airport on unfounded charges of extremism.
The EU condemned Belarusian action against civil plane and the detention of Pratasevich. In a declaration on behalf of the EU on the forced diversion of Ryanair flight FR4978 to Minsk on 23 May 2021, the High Representative called for the immediate release of Mr Pratasevich. This was followed by a European Council statement, in which the EU leaders called for targeted individual and economic sanctions as well as to ban overflight of EU airspace by Belarusian airlines and prevent access to EU airports of flights operated by these.
The case with the Ryanair flight 4978 is unique. No other instances of forced landing of an aircraft cited by the pro-Kremlin media involved a fake bomb threats or cracdown on political opposition.
See related disinformation claims alleging that the Ryanair incident was handled according to international regulations and that Belarus defended Europe against a terror attack, allowing the Ryanair plan to land at Minsk and Belarus acted strict in accordance with international law in the Ryanair incident.