Calls to Block Belarus' Airspace Grow as Activist's Location Unknown

Calls to create a no-fly zone over Belarus' airspace and ban its planes from landing grew louder on Monday as European countries looked for ways to express how angry they were at the forced landing of a Ryanair flight with a dissident onboard in Minsk.The whereabouts of dissident Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich, who was taken into custody after the passenger plane he was on was forced to land in Belarus' capital at the weekend, remain unknown.

Protasevich, a 26-year-old blogger and activist who was wanted in his homeland for inciting protests against long-time leader Alexander Lukashenko, among other charges, was arrested after his Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania made an emergency landing on Sunday.

Governments across Europe have reacted with outrage, suggesting authoritarian Belarus used the pretext of a safety threat to conduct a "state hijacking" of a civilian airliner to go after a critic.

The European Union was considering punitive measures, including sanctions on those responsible for the incident, as well as a landing ban for the Belarusian airline Belavia at all airports in the bloc and the declaration of the airspace over Belarus as a no-fly zone.

Leaders in Latvia and France are already pushing to close off Belarusian airspace to international flights. Airlines including Wizz Air and Air Baltic are rerouting their flights accordingly.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the International Civil Aviation Organisation council should meet "to consider the regime's flouting of the international rules safeguarding civil aviation."

EU leaders will discuss possible measures at a summit later on Monday.

Belarusian state media reported that the plane's diversion came on Lukashenko's personal instructions, after he had purportedly been alerted to a possible bomb on board. He also ordered a MiG-29 fighter jet be scrambled to accompany the Ryanair plane, according to the Belta news agency.

Lukashenko, 66, has led Belarus - a former Soviet republic in Eastern Europe bordering EU states Poland, Lithuania and Latvia - for more than a quarter of a century, tolerating little dissent.

Protasevich's father, Dmitry, said in an interview with Belarusian radio broadcaster Radio Svoboda that he was convinced that the operation did "not only involve" the country's secret service, hinting at Moscow's involvement.

"The operation was of a large enough scale to spit on the entire international community and their opinion," added the dissident's father, who called the forced landing "an act of terrorism."

Russia is a close ally of Belarus.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary believes that KGB agents were aboard the passenger flight that was forced to land in Minsk.

"It appears the intent of the authorities was to remove a journalist and his travelling companion," the head of the Irish budget airline told radio broadcaster Newstalk on Monday. "We believe there were some KGB agents offloaded at the airport as well," he added.

O'Leary praised the flight crew for handling the situation well and said the incident was frightening for passengers and staff, who were detained for hours by gunmen in Belarus after the emergency landing.

Dmitry Protasevich expressed worry about his son: "Unfortunately, we don't know where he is and how he's doing."

The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, and Amnesty International are among those who have called for Protasevich's immediate release.

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