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My Take | Belarus was just learning from the United States
- The forced plane landing and kidnapping of dissident journalist Roman Protasevich by Minsk deserves universal condemnation, but let’s not pretend it was doing anything new
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The more frequently the West feigns outrage, the more their own dirty laundry comes back to haunt them. The forced landing of a Ryanair flight by the air force of Belarus on the flimsy excuse of an on-board bomb threat may well qualify as state-sponsored kidnapping and terrorism. It is indeed an international outrage, but it is not unprecedented.
Before the latest outrage, there was the interception and forced landing of the presidential plane of then-Bolivian president Evo Morales on suspicion that US whistle-blower Edward Snowden was aboard.
The real reason for Belarus’ interception, as even the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko doesn’t bother to hide any more, was to arrest flight passenger and dissident journalist Roman Protasevich, who helped expose suspected electoral fraud that returned the president to office last year and the subsequent government crackdown.
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As the commercial flight was en route from Greece to Lithuania – both member states of the European Union – only to be forced to make an emergency landing in Minsk, the EU’s collective sovereignty and security were blatantly challenged. The Europeans are understandably and justifiably angry. They have moved to cut off Belarus’ access to the EU’s airspace and airports, and to launch new sanctions.
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On the other hand, they and the Americans may want to dial down the moral outrage, pretending that such an act was unprecedented. Local reporters including yours truly who covered the Snowden case while he was hiding in Hong Kong should remember it well.
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