Western powers call for probe into Belarus plane diversion

The United States and western European members of the U.N. Security Council called on May 26 for the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to investigate Belarus' diversion of a European flight and arrest of a dissident on board.

Their call came hours after a defiant President Alexander Lukashenko on May 26 defended the action, lashing out at critics at home and abroad.

The shockwaves from the affair multiplied on May 26, as a Barcelona-bound flight from Minsk had to turn back after being refused access to French airspace, and as Poland closed its airspace to Belarusian carriers.

In his first public statement since the Ryanair flight was diverted and opposition journalist and activist Roman

Protasevich arrested on May 23, Lukashenko dismissed the subsequent international outcry.

"I acted lawfully to protect our people," Lukashenko said in an address to parliament.

The criticism was nothing more than another attempt by his opponents to undermine his rule, he said, accusing them of waging a "modern, hybrid war" against Belarus.

"Our ill-wishers at home and abroad have changed their methods of attacking the state," Lukashenko said, accusing them of crossing "red lines" and "boundaries of common sense and human morality".

Lukashenko - often dubbed "Europe's last dictator" - is facing some of the strongest international pressure of his nearly 27 years ruling ex-Soviet Belarus.

But he continues to enjoy solid support from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is hosting the Belarusian leader on May 28 spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on May 26 there was no reason to disbelieve Lukashenko's version of events.

The Belarus strongman and his allies are under a series of Western sanctions over a...