Belarusian Prez defends hijack of flight amid fury
Belarus' authoritarian president defended on Wednesday his decision to tell a passenger jet to land in his country and accused European leaders of waging a "hybrid war" to "strangle" his nation by ordering up new sanctions for diverting the flight and arresting an opposition journalist who was aboard. Speaking before lawmakers and top officials, President Alexander Lukashenko (pic) maintained his contention that there was a bomb threat against the Ryanair flight and called it an "absolute lie" that a fighter jet he scrambled was forcing the passenger plane to land in Minsk. The carrier has said its crew was instructed to land. The plane was searched once on the ground, and no bomb was found, but Raman Pratasevich, a 26-year-old journalist and activist, and his girlfriend were detained. "I acted in a lawful way, protecting people in line with int’l rules," said 66-year-old Lukashenko, who has ruled the ex-Soviet nation with an iron fist for more than a quarter-century, relentlessly stifling dissent.
He doubled down on the idea that there was a grave security risk, saying the plane was flying not far away from the Astravets nuclear power plant and adding that he ordered air defence systems on high alert. "I had to protect people, I was thinking about the country's security," But EU leaders have denounced the move to divert the plane - which was traveling between two EU countries and being operated by an airline based in a third - as an act of piracy. They agreed to draft more sanctions on officials linked to the diversion and ones targeting businesses that are the main cash earners for Lukashenko's regime. Lukashenko derided that response.
"Our ill-wishers outside and inside the country have changed their methods of attacking the state," Lukashenko said. "That's why they switched from organising riots to trying to strangle us." He added: "It's no longer just an information war, it's a modern hybrid war and we need to do everything to prevent it from spilling into a hot conflict."