DISINFO: In 2013 Western powers did exactly the same as forced landing of Ryanair flight 4978
SUMMARY
When Belarus forced a Ryanair plane en route from Athens to Vilnius to land in Minsk in order to detain opposition activist Roman Protasevich, this act of piracy was met by global condemnation. However, we should remember that Western powers did exactly the same in 2013 when the plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced to land in Austria. It was done under order of the US, which had alleged that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board, trying to get from Russia to Latin America. To add insult to injury, Snowden was not on the plane.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin misleading comparison between the forced landing of the Ryanair flight 4978 and Edward Snowden search in 2013.
Contrary to the claim, this episode can’t be compared with the incident surrounding Evo Morales’s plane. In July 2013, under the Obama administration, Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced to land in Austria, amid US pressure, in a hunt for US fugitive Edward Snowden, who was thought to be aboard. But unlike the Belarusian plot, which involved fighter jets and bomb threats, the Bolivian flight was brought down by bureaucracy: European nations refused it permission to enter their airspace, Bolivian officials later told reporters, leaving them with no clear route back home after a trip to Moscow. The plane subsequently landed in Austria because it needed to refuel, and Heinz Fischer, Austria’s president at the time, met with Morales at the airport.
According to Fischer, Morales’ plane wasn’t searched, contrary to what is claimed in this disinformation story. Besides, European countries that had denied access to their air space apologised to Bolivia in the following days, which were accepted by its government. In contrast, in the case of the Ryanair flight 4978, there is evidence that the alleged bomb threat that Belarusian authorities hoisted as the reason for this forced landing was a fake, orchestrated by Belarusian intelligence services with the goal of capturing Pratasevich, and the whole incident has been deemed as a serious breach of international aviation law and denounced as an act of “piracy” and “state-sponsored hijacking” by Ryanair.
The EU condemned this Belarusian action against a civil plane and the detention of Pratasevich. In a declaration on behalf of the EU on 23 May 2021, the High Representative called for the immediate release of Mr. Pratasevich. This was followed by a European Council statement, in which the EU leaders called for targeted individual and economic sanctions as well as to ban overflight of EU airspace by Belarusian airlines and prevent access to EU airports of flights operated by these. On 4 June 2021, the European Council introduced a ban on the overflight of EU airspace and on access to EU airports by Belarusian carriers of all kinds.
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