EU leaders agree ban on use of bloc's airspace by Belarusian airlines

Taoiseach Micheál Martin told RTÉ that the episode “reflects growing authoritarianism across the world”.

Belarus police detain journalist Roman Protasevich (AP Photo/Sergei Grits, File)

European Union leaders have agreed a set of sanctions against Belarus, including a ban on the use of the 27-nation bloc’s air space and airports amid fury over the forced diversion of a passenger jet flying between two EU countries to arrest an opposition journalist.

After what EU leaders called a brazen “hijacking” of a Ryanair plane flying from Greece to Lithuania on Sunday, they demanded the immediate release of Roman Protasevich, a key critic of authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.