Belarus defends diversion of plane

Authorities in Belarus on Monday insisted they acted legally when they diverted a passenger plane carrying an opposition activist, accusing the West of making unfounded claims for political reasons.

The government provoked fury from the West on Sunday by pulling Ryanair flight FR4978 from its Athens-to-Vilnius route and arresting one of the passengers in Minsk.

Western leaders called it an "act of state terrorism" and the European Union's leaders threatened to limit international air traffic over Belarus and possibly target its ground transport as well, Reuters reported.

"There is no doubt that the actions of our competent authorities ... fully met established international rules," Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz said, accusing the West of "politicizing" the situation.

"Unfounded accusations are being made," he said in a statement, accusing the West of not wanting to be objective and threatening to slap new sanctions on Belarus.

Glaz said it was "sad" the passengers of the Ryanair flight "faced some inconvenience".

"However the rules of aviation security are an absolute priority," he added.

Belarus authorities said the plane had to make an emergency landing in Minsk following a bomb scare that turned out to be false. The state media defended the use of a MiG-29 jet to divert the passenger plane, claiming authorities had no other choice.

'Extremist' detained

Russian state agency Tass said Roman Protasevich, 26, a co-founder of the Nexta Telegram channel, which had been recognized as "extremist" in Belarus, was among the passengers. Protasevich, currently living in Lithuania, is wanted in Belarus. He was detained after the plane's landing in Minsk.

Protasevich was accused by Belarusian authorities last year of a number of crimes including organizing mass riots.

The Ryanair flight with 170 passengers was escorted to an emergency landing at Minsk's airport by a Belarusian MIG-29 fighter jet on Sunday. There were 170 passengers from 12 countries, including 90 Lithuanian nationals, aboard the plane.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Belarus was taking an "absolutely reasonable" approach to the diversion of the flight. "A representative of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry ... stressed the readiness of the authorities to act on the issue in a transparent manner," Lavrov told reporters. "I think this is an absolutely reasonable approach."

But EU leaders on Sunday condemned the incident, and warned possible sanctions against Belarus in a EU summit scheduled on Monday, said European Council President Charles Michel.

"It is utterly unacceptable to force Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius to land in Minsk," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on her Twitter account.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also said on Twitter the event is "an unprecedented, shocking act," calling for EU action to "step up pressure on Belarus. "Enough is enough".

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda described Belarus's actions as "abhorrent", and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said it is serious interference in civil air traffic in Europe.

Ren Qi in Moscow, agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.