On 23 May, a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius was intercepted by the Belarusian air force and pressed to land in Minsk, so that the Belarusian authorities could arrest journalist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega, who were among the passengers.
EU heads of state or government quickly responded to this dramatic incident by, among other things, tasking the Council with preparing new EU sanctions on Belarusian individuals and entities and banning the country’s airlines from accessing EU airspace and airports.
MEPs will debate this latest deterioration of EU-Belarus relations with EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday. They will also prepare a resolution and put it to a vote on Thursday.
Statement by the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy followed by a resolution
Debate: Tuesday, 8 June
Vote: Thursday, 10 June
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