Against the background of rumors about Russia’s involvement in the emergency landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk, Kyriakos Mitsotakis rejects the assumption of any participation of the Russian Federation in the events, while welcoming the EU’s decisions on Belarus. This was discussed on Tuesday at a meeting of the Greek Prime Minister with journalists at the end of the EU summit in Brussels.
When asked by a media representative about Russian agents allegedly on the Athens-Vilnius flight, Mitsotakis replied:
“There is no such data. I want to make it clear that at the moment there is absolutely no indication that someone inside the plane participated in the process of changing the course of the plane and its landing in Minsk, and not in Vilnius, where it was supposed to land. And I believe that we would have had such evidence. We already have enough evidence to confirm that the announcement was made by a pilot whom the Belarusians apparently warned about that a bomb was allegedly planted in the plane, and this plane changed course and landed in Minsk. So I think these rumors are completely unfounded. There is no evidence of agents. “
The next question concerned the suggestion that at the summit there could be an attempt to link Russia to the incident in Minsk, which caused a worldwide resonance. Mitsotakis said:
“The answer is no, no assessment, no information about any involvement [России]… The debate on Russia was a general discussion of a strategic nature. The conclusions, while brief, reflect the rigor with which we must treat Russian behavior, leaving open the possibility of discussing with Russia – as defined in one of the five pillars of the policy approved in 2016 – on issues that we deem relevant. These are either issues of regional stability or issues of climate change, and our country insists on this position. “
Kyriakos Mitsotakis welcomes the decisions taken by the EU in connection with the events in Belarus:
“Needless to say, this act is, in fact, an attempt at state aviation piracy. This is an action that is simply unacceptable in the European Union. And I believe that the regime [президента Белоруссии Александра] Lukashenka received a signal that Europe, when it wants, can move very quickly and in such a way that the life of the regime will be very difficult. And, of course, we will continue to monitor the development of the situation in Belarus in order to increase pressure on the regime if necessary. “
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