“The European Union has already very clearly defined its position. NATO’s position has already been clearly defined. Portugal is represented at the highest level, and in the background it is depicted in both positions, ”said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, answering journalists’ questions, leaving the National Palace of Ajuda in Lisbon.
According to the head of state, “these are tough positions, these are strong positions” of the European Union and NATO.
“In the case of the European Union, they already envisage sanctions applicable to the state that acted in this case. [a Bielorrússia] air and other traffic between this state and the states of the European Union “, – said the President of the Republic.
EU leaders met in Brussels on Monday and responded to the case that the plane of the Irish airline Ryanair was rerouted on Sunday by the Belarusian authorities, who forced it to land in Minsk, where journalist Roman Protasevich, an opponent of the Belarusian regime, was arrested.
The plane, owned by the Irish airline Ryanair, traveled between the capitals of Greece and Lithuania – two member states of the European Union and NATO – through the airspace of Belarus.
EU leaders decided to “ban Belarusian airlines from entering European airspace” and “ask airlines based in the European Union to avoid flying over Belarus” and “adopt new concrete economic sanctions” against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.
In this position, 27 people demanded that the International Civil Aviation Organization “urgent investigation” of the Sunday incident and the “immediate release” of Belarusian journalists Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapieha, ethnic Russians, who accompanied him and were also arrested.
On Sunday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted that “this is a serious and dangerous incident requiring an international investigation” and that “Belarus must guarantee the safe return of the crew and all passengers.”
Today, before the meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to consider this issue, Jens Stoltenberg demanded an “urgent international investigation” of what, in his opinion, was a “state hijacking” by the Belarusian authorities of a Ryanair plane en route between Athens. And Vilnius called on the Lukashenka regime to immediately release Protasevich and Sofia Sapega.
The NATO Secretary General will arrive in Portugal on Wednesday to attend a meeting of the Council of State as a guest of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
This meeting of the political body for presidential consultations will take place at the Cascais Citadel in the Lisbon region and will focus on the theme “NATO, Situation and Prospects”.
