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They called on the Council to ban overflight of EU airspace by Belarusian airlines and prevent access of their planes to EU airports

The European Union agreed May 24 to impose sanctions on Belarus, including banning its airlines from using the airspace and airports of the 27-nation bloc, amid fury over the forced diversion of a passenger jet to arrest an opposition journalist.

The European Council has proposed an air traffic ban on Belarus amid outrage over the arrest of opposition journalist Roman Protasevich, after a Ryanair flight he was travelling on was forced to make an emergency landing in Minsk.

The ban will prevent Belarusian airlines from flying in the airspace of the 27 EU member states and prevent them from landing at airports in the EU. 

Belarusian Transport Ministry announced that Hamas was behind the bomb threat that allegedly forced a Ryanair flight to land in Minsk on May 23, reports the Belarusian news.

According to the "LRT" portal, the Lithuanian Ministry considers that the current regime in Minsk is "dangerous for the lives of civilians".

Police officers detain journalist Roman Protasevich attempting to cover a rally in Minsk, Belarus, 26 March 2017. Photo: EPA-EFE/STRINGER

Belarus forced a passenger plane carrying a wanted opposition activist to divert and land in its capital, provoking a furious outcry from world leaders who described it as an "act of state terrorism" ahead of an EU summit on May 24 expected to toughen sanctions on Minsk.

Fury over the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in Belarus has upended the agenda of a European Union summit dinner on Monday, where leaders were due to discuss relations with Russia and Britain but will now also consider punitive steps against Minsk.

Ryanair adds 4 new Malta routes to Italy and 1 to Greece , by the peak of summer, the airline will be serving 57 routes in 19 countries from Malta