MINSK, June 6. /TASS/. Belarus will be forced to respond in kind to the unfriendly actions of Ukraine that banned Belarus from its air space and cancelled air travel between the two countries following the Western European nations’ example after the incident with the Ryanair flight, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said in a televised interview with Belarus-1 channel on Saturday.
"We have never taken any hostile steps against Ukraine. Moreover, we supported Ukraine amid crises and took a very balanced positions even when it was not very easy for us. I believe that time will put everything in its place," the prime minister said. "Nevertheless, as long as the Ukrainian government sticks to this policy towards our country and its economic interests, we have to respond too," Golovchenko added.
He evaded the question what measures Belarus was planning to take against Ukraine.
"You will find out soon," he noted.
A passenger jet belonging to Ryanair, an Irish low-cost airline, performing a flight from Athens to Vilnius on May 23 was forced to make an emergency landing at Minsk International Airport after a bomb threat on board the plane had been reported. The quick reaction alert crew of a MiG-29 fighter jet was dispatched to escort the airliner.
A subsequent search after the aircraft had touched down in the Belarusian capital failed to find any information confirming the bomb scare. The Belarusian Investigative Committee opened a criminal probe into a deliberately false bomb threat message.
Minsk specified that Roman Protasevich, wanted in Belarus as a co-founder of the Nexta Telegram channel deemed extremist, had been among the flight’s passengers. He was taken into custody by law enforcement agents. Sofia Sapega, a Russian national, was detained with him. In the evening, the plane took off from Minsk airport and landed in Vilnius later on May 23.
Following the incident, the EU leaders banned European air carriers from Belarus’ airspace and also banned the Belarusian airline Belavia’s flights to Europe.