I condemn the "forcible landing" of a civil flight at an airport in Minsk, Belarus ordered by the Belarusian regime "under the politically motivated pretext of a terrorist threat", Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Ivan Korčok wrote on Twitter. He also called for an "immediate release of the aircraft and all passengers", including those who had been illegally detained.
On Sunday, Belarusian authorities forced the plane to make an emergency landing due to an alleged security threat. Subsequently, they detained Belarussian journalist and opposition activist Raman Pratasevich, currently living in Poland. He was traveling from Athens, Greece to Vilnius, Lithuania on board. Belarussian opposition news website Nexta wrote that no bomb was found on board the plane after it was searched. As the TASR press agency wrote, Pratasevich is Nexta's former editor-in-chief.
