Merkel does not believe Minsk’s explanations of the Ryanair incident | News from Germany about Europe | >

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the “forced landing” in Minsk of the Ryanair plane, which was flying from Athens to Vilnius, an “unprecedented” step of the Belarusian authorities. She announced this upon her arrival at the EU summit in Brussels on the evening of Monday, May 24, according to a > correspondent.

“We saw a forced landing, as a result of which the Belarusian opposition leader Roman Protasevich was detained<…> Any other explanations for this landing of the Ryanair plane do not inspire any confidence, “Merkel said. She stressed that the Belarusian authorities should immediately release one of the founders of the opposition Telegram channel Nexta Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega.

Merkel for the EU’s common position on the Lukashenka regime

Merkel noted that the leaders of the EU countries at the extraordinary summit in Brussels will try to agree on actions in response to the landing of the plane. “We will discuss what measures we can take against Belarus. And this (should be. – Ed.) a single European reaction, “the Chancellor said. Among the possible measures she named additional personal sanctions against Belarusian officials and the ban of the state airline Belavia from flying to the airports of the EU. She also demanded an international investigation of the incident.

False alarm as a reason for aircraft landing

Let us remind you that the plane, performing flight FR4978 from Athens to Vilnius on May 23, urgently landed at the Minsk airport. The Irish airline Ryanair said that the Belarusian authorities had sent the plane to Minsk. To escort the liner, Belarus lifted a MiG-29 fighter into the air.

At the same time, the Belarusian side claims that it was the Ryanair plane that gave the alarm. The Aviation Department of the Ministry of Transport of Belarus assures that they did not put pressure on the pilots of the airliner.

As a result, nothing suspicious was found on board. The liner was allowed to take off from Minsk after about seven hours of idle time at the airport. However, Protasevich and his girlfriend were not allowed to continue their flight.

see also

• Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus

  Leader of Democratic Belarus

  Exactly a year ago, a housewife from Gomel, a former English teacher Svetlana Tikhanovskaya announced her intention to participate in the presidential campaign in Belarus. On May 15, 2020, she submitted instead of and, as she herself repeatedly emphasized, for the sake of her husband, documents for registration with the CEC – and by coincidence she became the leader of the democratic forces. How she spent a year in this role – in the > photo gallery.

• 

  Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus

  Collection of signatures for Tikhanovskaya

  Initially, her husband, the author of the YouTube channel “Country for Life” Sergei Tikhanovsky, planned to run for the presidency of Belarus. But he was denied registration, and at the end of May he was detained and is still in jail. Not least because of the popularity of her husband and solidarity with him throughout Belarus, there were huge queues at pickets to collect signatures for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

• 

  Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus

  Single candidate from the opposition

  Svetlana Tikhanovskaya announced anonymous threats against her and her children with a demand to stop participating in the election race, but decided not to give up. On July 14, the CEC issued her a certificate. In fact, she became the single opposition candidate. Lukashenka’s other strong rivals, Viktor Babariko and Valery Tsepkalo, were denied registration. In total, five candidates were allowed to participate in the elections.

• 

  Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus

  Consolidation of headquarters

  Viktor Babariko was detained, Valery Tsepkalo had to go abroad because of the persecution. On July 16, the coordinator of Babariko’s headquarters, Maria Kolesnikova, Valery Tsepkalo’s wife Veronika and Svetlana Tikhanovskaya announced a joint effort. The women’s trio has become the face of the campaign for fair elections in Belarus. Its members urged people to go to vote, become observers and fight fraud.

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  Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus

  Three graces as a symbol of peaceful change

  The campaign rallies of the joint headquarters gathered thousands of Belarusians throughout the country. On July 30, according to various estimates, up to 70 thousand people attended the official picket of Tikhanovskaya in the Minsk Peoples’ Friendship Park. Her campaign promises were to hold re-elections with the participation of all alternative candidates, a referendum on the return of the 1994 constitution, and the release of political prisoners.

• 

  Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus

  Unrecognized election results

  On August 10, the CEC announced Lukashenka’s victory in the presidential elections – for the sixth time. Tikhanovskaya, according to official data, got 10.1% of the vote, while Lukashenka – 80.1%. According to the opposition and many citizens of Belarus, the voting results were massively falsified. They were not recognized in the West.

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  Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus

  Post-election protests

  Tikhanovskaya’s supporters and analysts believe that in fact she, at least, made it to the second round and even, perhaps, won the election in the first round. Protests against falsification of voting results, which erupted in Belarus immediately after the elections, do not stop to this day, although by spring they had already lost their popularity due to repressions by the Belarusian authorities.

• 

  Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus

  Forced emigration

  Under pressure from the authorities, on the night of August 11, Tihanovskaya was forced to leave for Lithuania. “God forbid to face such a choice, which I faced,” – she said in a video message. Now Svetlana lives in Vilnius – under the protection of the Lithuanian state. The Belarusian authorities are seeking her extradition and accused of terrorism. Her team emphasizes that Tikhanovskaya supports peaceful methods.

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  Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus

  For dialogue with international mediation

  The way out of the political crisis in Belarus is in the dialogue between the authorities and the opposition and the holding of new elections, Tikhanovskaya said. Now her team is creating the prerequisites for this. In March, a vote for internationally mediated negotiations was launched on the Golos platform. The initiative was supported by over 770 thousand people. To this end, the work of the Opposition Coordination Council is also supported.

• 

  Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus

  At a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel

  The need for dialogue in Belarus is one of the main topics at international conferences and meetings of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya with the heads of Western states and governments. Her team is also establishing international contacts to provide humanitarian aid to Belarusians who suffered from repression and economic support for the country after the new elections – a kind of “Marshall plan for Belarus”.

• 

  Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus

  Attention to torture in Belarus

  Sanctions against high-ranking officials guilty of violence against civilians, as well as assistance from the international community in documenting torture in Belarus and prosecuting security officials are other key areas in the work of Tikhanovskaya’s headquarters. Lawsuits against the Belarusian security forces are being considered in Lithuania, Poland and the Czech Republic. A corresponding claim was filed with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.

• 

  Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus

  Sakharov Prize “For Freedom of Thought”

  In December 2020, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was awarded the Sakharov Prize “For Freedom of Thought”. In addition to her, the European Parliament awarded this award to Svetlana Aleksievich, Maria Kolesnikova, Veronika Tsepkalo, Ales Bialiatski, Stepan Putilo and other activists of the united Belarusian opposition. “Freedom is a victory over fear,” Tikhanovskaya said at the award ceremony in Brussels.

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  Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus

  At a meeting with the diaspora in Rome

  Meetings with the diaspora, support for the People’s Embassies, which inform the world community about the situation in Belarus, contacts with those who continue to protest in Belarus – Tikhanovskaya calls herself a leader elected by the Belarusian people. Bloomberg has included her in the top 50 most influential people of 2020. And no matter how people treat it, the history of modern Belarus is already unthinkable without it.

• 

  Svetlana Tikhanovskaya: a year of struggle for a new Belarus

  New image of a leader

  During this difficult, eventful year, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has significantly changed externally and as a politician. And it’s not just a new hairstyle. She began to dress more stylishly, behave more confidently, sound more competent, without losing her naturalness and warmth. Among world leaders, she looks on equal terms, and ordinary Belarusians perceive her as “their own” – this is her uniqueness.

  Author: Yanina Moroz

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