The press secretary of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, Anatoly Glaz, told RIA Novosti that the incident with the Ryanair plane was being politicized and indicated the haste of the West’s bellicose statements in this regard.
“The haste of openly belligerent statements from a number of countries and European structures is striking. The situation is directly and clearly aggravated. It is deliberately politicized, unconfirmed accusations sound, labels are glued”, – the spokesman said.
According to him, there is no apparent desire to understand it objectively. “Instead, the slogans about sanctions immediately sounded again”, Glaz noted.
“Of course, it is purely humanly understandable and sad that the passengers of this flight encountered certain inconveniences. However, aviation security rules are an absolute priority, and, moreover, everywhere and for everyone”, – he said.
The press secretary stressed that in this regard, the actions of the aircraft crew, who are responsible for the lives of their passengers, seem to be fully justified.
“From this point of view, from the point of view of security, which was fully ensured by joint efforts, and it is necessary, first of all, to look at this incident”, – he urged.
The Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius on May 23 urgently landed at the Minsk airport due to a message about mining. Belarusian human rights activists reported that this plane was flown by Roman Protasevich, the founder of the Nexta Telegram channel, recognized as extremist in Belarus. While checking documents at the Minsk airport, Protasevich was detained. A criminal case was initiated against him under several articles, including the article “organizing mass riots.” He could face up to 15 years in prison.