DISINFO: The West used the Ryanair flight to advance its political goals against Belarus
SUMMARY
The way the West reacted in the case of the forced landing of Ryanair flight FR 4978 in Minsk was unreasonable. The West and the international community did not follow a step by step approach to examine what happened. This shows that the West wanted to keep the pressure and advance its political goals towards Belarus.
RESPONSE
This claim is part of a recurrent pro-Kremlin media narrative about Ryanair flight FR 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 Raman Pratasevich 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. On 4 June 2021, the European Council introduced a ban on the overflight of EU airspace and on access to EU airports by Belarusian carriers of all kinds.
The case with Ryanair flight 4978 is unique. No other instances of the forced landing of an aircraft cited by the pro-Kremlin media involved fake bomb threats or crackdown on political opposition.
Additionally, the West and especially the EU are not putting political pressure against Belarus but they are trying to assist the democratic prospects of the Central European country. On 28 May, the European Commission presented to the Council its outline for a comprehensive plan of economic support to a future democratic Belarus. The plan, of up to €3 billion, reflects the European Union's commitment to support the Belarusian people's wishes for a peaceful democratic transition in the country following the Presidential elections of August 2020, which were neither free nor fair.
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 strictly in accordance with international law in the Ryanair incident.