EU Leaders Agree On Belarus Sanctions After Plane 'Hijacking' To Arrest Journalist

The sanctions include banning its airlines from using European Union airspace amid anger over a forced Ryanair plane diversion to arrest Raman Pratasevich.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union agreed Monday to impose sanctions against Belarus, including banning its airlines from using the airspace and airports of the 27-nation bloc, amid fury over the forced diversion of a passenger jet to arrest an opposition journalist. In what EU leaders have called a brazen “hijacking” of the Ryanair jetliner flying from Greece to Lithuania on Sunday, they also demanded the immediate release of the journalist, Raman Pratasevich, a key foe of authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. A brief video clip of Pratasevich, who ran a popular messaging app that played a key role in helping organize massive protests against Lukashenko, was shown on Belarusian state television Monday night, a day after he was removed from the Ryanair flight.