Prague protests strongly over Belarusian diversion of plane

The Czech minister of foreign affairs, Jakub Kulhánek, summoned Belarus’s ambassador to Prague on Monday in connection with the forcing down of a commercial aeroplane and the detention of dissident Roman Protasevich a day earlier. In a discussion with the envoy, a Czech deputy foreign minister, Jan Kohout, protested strongly against the suspected violation of international aviation law, which he said could not go unanswered.

The Czech authorities say they will insist on a thorough international investigation of the incident, which they said endangered the lives of passengers and crew. Prague will coordinate all responses with its EU partners.