He caused damage to Belarus, Roman Protasevich says at briefing sitting next to military chiefs
June 14, 2021, 4:24 pm

He caused damage to Belarus, Roman Protasevich says at briefing sitting next to military chiefs

Mr Roman Protasevich

At a press briefing held by the Belarusian authorities on Monday, detained journalist Roman Protasevich, who is being held at a KGB prison in Belarus capital, said he was feeling fine and had not been beaten. He also said he had caused damage to Belarus and now wanted to rectify the situation. Roman Protasevich

BBC reporter who was at the media briefing said Mr Protasevich, 26, was clearly appearing under duress.

Authorities in Belarus have paraded the detained opposition blogger to give their version of the Ryanair plane diversion of 23 May.

Belarus denies it was a forced landing.

The diversion of the Athens-Vilnius flight outraged the EU, UK and other Western nations. They reacted by banning state carrier Belavia from their airports and urging airlines to avoid Belarusian airspace Roman Protasevich

BBC reported that Belarus air force chief Igor Golub told the briefing contradicting independent accounts of what happened, "There was no interception, no forced diversion from the state border or forced landing of the Ryanair plane.

The Ryanair plane flew on to Vilnius after being kept at Minsk airport for several hours. A Belarusian MiG fighter had escorted it down. No bomb was found, but when passengers reboarded, both Mr Protasevich and Ms Sapega were kept in custody.

Earlier this month, Mr Protasevich appeared on Belarus state TV praising Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and admitted attempting to topple him.

Marks were visible on his wrists. Human rights and opposition campaigners say he was tortured. Roman Protasevich

levant

Source: BBC

Image source: Getty Images-BBC

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.