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On 23 May, Lithuania called on the EU member states to discuss a dangerous incident — the forced landing in Minsk of a Ryanair passenger plane flying from Athens to Vilnius — at a special meeting of the European Council the next day.

“The forced landing of a Ryanair plane traveling between the two EU capitals and holding EU citizens hostage constitute a serious violation of international norms. The entire EU has been brutally attacked and must respond in the strictest way,” said Lithuania's Foreign Minister.

In the evening, the Foreign Minister had a telephone conversation with the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

Lithuania also called on its partners to draft a joint EU statement, defining the incident as a breach of the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), and to consider issuing a joint EU recommendation to avoid entering the airspace of Belarus in the future, as well as to suspend Belarus’ ICAO membership.

Lithuania also requested its EU partners to summon Belarusian Ambassadors in all EU capitals to express their strong protest and objection to the actions by the Belarusian regime, as well as to the use of military aircraft, thus posing threats to passenger security and civil aviation.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the aircraft with 171 passengers, including citizens of 12 EU countries, on board was flying already closer to Vilnius, when two Belarusian military jets forced it to change direction and land in Minsk. It is very important to note that the detained Belarusian opposition activist and journalist Raman Pratasevich, who resides and works in Lithuania, was one of its passengers. Pratasevich was arrested by the Belarusian police upon landing in Minsk and prevented from continuing his journey.