/ 28 May 2021

Lukashenko hits back at his critics

In his first comments since a Ryanair flight was ordered to land in Belarus on Sunday, the nation’s dictatorial President Alexander Lukashenko has accused the international community of “strangling” his country and waging a “hybrid warfare”. The plane was flying from Greece to Lithuania when it was ordered to land in Minsk – Belarus said because of a bomb threat. World leaders were shocked when passenger/Lukashenko critic/journalist Roman Protasevich was taken off the plane and arrested. His Russian girlfriend Sofia Sapega was also detained, and they are both facing criminal charges. Lukashenko yesterday insisted the threat was real and that he “was thinking about the country’s security”. He also said reports that a fighter jet was sent to force the plane to land was an “absolute lie”. The European Union this week tightened sanctions on Belarus – Lukashenko said he would respond harshly.

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