“This is indeed an unprecedented case of an actual hijacking, forced landing and the actual abduction of a person, even a Belarusian citizen, who had sought asylum and protection in the European Union (EU) and was on his way from one EU Member State to another. . As this finally no longer looks like after the 21st century, rather after such a medieval level of piracy or highway robbery. There must be an appropriate response to this. I think, first of all, it is also a matter of our own security, that of all of us, to stop all transit of international flights over the territory of Belarus, so to effectively close Belarusian airspace to international flights. The second thing is, I think, to be debated, and I know that such views also come from a number of European leaders, who I think are to be welcomed: restricting the activities of Belarusian airlines in the EU, of course, through sectoral sanctions. Thirdly, however, these issues need to be discussed in international organizations, and I think that could be a good issue for the UN Security Council as well. “
– .
