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Taoiseach Micheál Martin has called for the release of the detained journalist Roman Protasevich, who was seized after the Ryanair flight he was travelling in was forced to land in Belarus.
“I think we do have to send a very firm message,” the Taoiseach told journalists ahead of a meeting of EU national leaders, adding that Protasevich “should be released”.
“I think it reflects a growing authoritarianism, in the globe, near to Europe, and countries who espouse and democratic values and international rules of engagement, have to stand up to this type of behaviour,” Mr Martin said.
Asked whether he would support suspending flights through Belarusian airspace, the Taoiseach said he needed to look at all the options and examine their consequences.
Earlier, Mr Martin described the incident, as “a state-sponsored coercive act”.
“It’s piracy in the skies and it’s just not acceptable,” he said.
Mr Martin said European leaders would discuss the issue on Monday night and would consider sanctions “and other measures” against the regime of authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko.
“There has to be measures that respond to an event of this kind,” he said.
A statement from authorities in Belarus said they acted “legally” and claims that KGB secret service members were on board the plane were “baseless”. But Mr Martin described the statement as “nonsense”. “I think we all know what happened here and don’t be hiding behind the rules, or don’t be hiding behind excuses,” he added. “You forced the plane down to arrest a journalist whose views you don’t agree with, and that is contrary to any sense of decency or democratic values.”
Lithuania, the original destination of the flight from Athens, has banned flights to and from Belarus, while Britain’s transport secretary Grant Shapps ordered airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace and revoked the permit of national airline Belavia.
Nine chiefs of parliamentary foreign affairs councils including that of Ireland, the US, Britain, and Germany have called for the suspension of flights to, from and over Belarus.
The EU leaders are expected to consider increasing sanctions on the regime of Mr Lukashenko, who is accused of rigging an election to cling to power in 2020 and a brutal crackdown on subsequent pro-democracy protests.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell summoned the Belarusian ambassador, calling the incident an “inadmissible step” and a “hijacking by Belarusian authorities” that constituted “another blatant attempt to silence the opposition”.
The EU commissioner for values and transparency Vera Jourova described it as an “act of terror”.
Minister for Foreign Affaris Simon Coveney said the regime in Belarus had no democratic legitimacy and it was “behaving as a dictatorship”.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said the forced landing of one of the airline’s planes was “state-sponsored hijacking” and “state-sponsored piracy” on the part of Belarus.
He also said “we believe there was also some KGB agents offloaded from the aircraft as well”.
“Unfortunately I can’t say much about it because the EU authorities and Nato are dealing with it at the moment,” he told Newstalk.
“We’re debriefing the crews, our crews did a phenomenal job to get that aircraft and almost all the passengers out of Minsk after six hours.

“We have to do a detailed debrief today with the Nato and EU authorities. I think it’s very frightening for the crew, for the passengers who were held under armed guard, had their bags searched.”
Military fighter scrambled
Protasevich (26), a former editor of the influential Telegram channels Nexta and Nexta Live, was detained by police after the flight was diverted to Minsk national airport.
Minsk confirmed that Mr Lukashenko ordered his military to scramble a Mig-29 fighter to escort the plane until it landed.
A Belarusian university in Vilnius said its student Sofia Sapega (23), who was travelling with Protasevich, had also been detained.
Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said EU leaders would decide on the repercussions for Belarus at Monday’s meeting.
Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, said “the outrageous and illegal behaviour... will have consequences”.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken called the incident “shocking” and accused the Belarusian government of endangering the lives of those aboard the aircraft, including some Americans.
Forcing the emergency landing of a European jetliner would be an extraordinary act even for Mr Lukashenko’s government, which has launched a broad crackdown on opposition leaders and independent media.
Opponents of the regime have been arrested, including some who have fled abroad to avoid reprisals, including a former spokesman for Mr Lukashenko who vanished last month during a trip to Moscow and then reappeared in custody in Minsk.

A Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius with Belarus opposition activist and blogger Roman Protasevich onboard was diverted to land in Minsk


Riots
Protasevich has been accused by Belarus of terrorism and provoking riots after the Nexta channels became one of the main conduits for organising last year’s anti-Lukashenko protests over election fraud.
Protasevich had been living in exile and Poland had previously rejected an extradition request sent by Minsk.
According to online flight data, the plane was over Belarusian airspace when it diverted course but was closer to Vilnius than Minsk.
“I’m facing the death penalty here,” a trembling Protasevich reportedly told a fellow passenger from the plane before he was led away by Belarusian police.
The mass unrest charges against him carry a sentence of up to 15 years. His current whereabouts are unknown.
Protasevich had been covering a visit to Athens by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a former presidential candidate who has declared herself the country’s leader-in-exile due to widespread fraud during last year’s elections. She called on the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to investigate Belarus. – Additional reporting: Guardian/PA