MINSK, May 26. /TASS/. Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei has said that Minsk will have to react harshly to any hostile moves, reciprocal measures can affect various areas of cooperation with the EU.

"Now we must say openly: on our part, not only the authorities but also on the part of ordinary people, there is practically no trust in those partners who are consistently playing a double hypocritical game," he said in parliament on Wednesday, BelTA news agency reported. "Under the circumstances, we will have to react toughly to any hostile moves against us."

According to Makei, reciprocal measures may affect various areas of cooperation with the European Union.

The top Belarusian diplomat turned the spotlight on a fundamentally important point that concerns, in particular, the operation of the Belavia flag carrier. "Supposing that you [the West] voiced political claims against the authorities. But why are you punishing specific people, and what does a respectable airline that transports citizens have to do with that? This is the same company that you - the Swedes, the Americans, the Brits, the Ukrainians - publicly thanked for assistance in evacuating your citizens in the midst of the pandemic," he said.

On May 23, a Vilnius-bound Ryanair flight that took off from Athens made an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport after a reported bomb threat. No bomb was found on board. Minsk specified that Roman Protasevich, one of the co-founders of the Nexta Telegram channel recognized as extremist in Belarus, had been among the passengers. Protasevich was detained after the airliner landed in the Belarusian capital. The plane left Minsk and continued on to Vilnius late on the same day.

On May 24, EU leaders decided to ban Belarusian airlines from flying to EU airports and performing flights over the European Union. They also advised European air carriers to avoid Belarusian airspace in response to the incident.