Roman Protasevich

With Poland, which already hosts a growing number of Belarusian exiles, immediately offering the 24-year-old sprinter a humanitarian visa, Timanovskaya took refuge in the Polish embassy in Tokyo until a flight to Warsaw could be arranged. Contrary to expectations, she didn't fly directly to Warsaw, but took a detour to the Austrian capital Vienna instead.

The Council of Europe on Monday said several EU candidate countries in the Balkans had aligned themselves with the Council Decision to strengthen restrictive measures on Belarus by introducing a ban on the overflight of EU airspace and access to EU airports of Belarusian carriers of all kinds.

Echoing the forced landing of a Ryanair flight travelling between two EU member states and the arrest of political activist Roman Protasevich in Belarus, the European Parliament has called for further sanctions on the hardline regime in Minsk.