Aleksandr Shpakovsky: The situation with the landing of the Ryanair plane in Minsk has been artificially politicized | Belarus News | Belarusian News | Belarus today | news in Belarus | Minsk News

Incidents with aircraft landings are not that rare, but the situation with the landing of Ryanair aircraft in Minsk has been artificially politicized. Political analyst Aleksandr Shpakovsky made the relevant statement on air at Belarusian radio station Alfa Radio, reports sb.by.

A flight by airline Ryanair between Dublin and Krakow had to land at Berlin Brandenburg Airport on the evening of May 30 due to a bomb threat. The aircraft remained on the runway until early Monday morning. No bomb was found on board. The incident happened exactly one week after Ryanair’s Athens-Vilnius flight had to land at Minsk National Airport in an emergency.

Aleksandr Shpakovsky said: “It is generally accepted that such incidents are not that rare. People often do not notice such situations, but the incident in Belarus has been artificially politicized. A similar event occurred in Berlin: the actions of the German police were similar to those of the Belarusian side. I am convinced that if anyone wanted by the German police had been on board the flight, they would have been arrested just as Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega were. [in Minsk]. Judging from international experience, bomb threat situations evolve according to a scenario. The crew decides to land, local law enforcement begins to examine the plane for the bomb. The flight is interrupted for 7 to 8 hours. The passengers experience inconvenience. We start to wonder who benefits?

Aleksandr Shpakovsky also recalled what happened in 2016. “At the time, a plane of the Belarusian air carrier Belavia was flying from Kiev to Minsk and was forced to turn around and land at the international airport from Kiev under threat of the deployment of combat aircraft. Law enforcement officers escorted Armenian citizen Armen Martirosyan from the plane. He was questioned and his luggage re-examined. He was ordered to return to Kiev. In 2017, Martirosyan sued Ukrainian law enforcement to recognize his actions as illegal and seek compensation. The lawsuit was dismissed. The Ukrainian judge referred to international practice in similar cases. In a similar case, a European court ruled that the rights of individuals and the masses may be restricted if a potential threat is signaled and present, ”the political analyst stressed.

Aleksandr Shpakovsky pointed out that a threat was reported when Ryanair’s Athens-Vilnius flight or Dublin-Krakow flight had to be grounded. As for the Kiev-Minsk flight, the security forces wanted to speak to the Armenian citizen. The analyst mentioned this as the difference between these situations.

The expert is convinced: “It is a legal procedure from the point of view of case law. The measures taken by the Belarusian law enforcement and security forces when the Athens-Vilnius plane was immobilized are in accordance with the logic and practice of European laws. “

Aleksandr Shpakovsky also pointed out that the Dublin-Krakow plane remained on the runway overnight until the morning of May 31. Information about what happened is only available in the morning. But European politicians reacted within 15 minutes of Ryanair’s Athens-Vilnius flight landing in Minsk on May 23.

“It makes me believe it was a pre-planned provocation. Pre-prepared cookie-cutter statements lead to concrete conclusions, ”said Aleksandr Shpakovsky.