NATO restricts HQ access for Belarus officials
NATO is restricting access to its headquarters for a group of Belarus officials in the wake of Minsk’s decision to divert a Ryanair passenger plane to arrest a dissident journalist
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The NATO military alliance is restricting access to its headquarters for a group of Belarus officials in the wake of Minsk’s decision to divert a Ryanair passenger plane to arrest a dissident journalist earlier this month.
“We have decided to restrict the access of Belarusian personnel to the NATO headquarters based on our assessment of security measures at the headquarters,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters Monday.
The move is expected to involve about five officials. They will still be able to enter NATO’s sprawling headquarters complex in Brussels but only as visitors, not with their usual delegation badges, depriving them of access to some areas.
Belarus’s international isolation has deepened since the May 23 incident, in which Belarusian flight controllers told the crew of a Ryanair jet of an alleged a bomb threat and instructed them to land in Minsk where journalist Raman Pratasevich was pulled off the plane by authorities.
NATO ambassadors said last week that the “unacceptable act seriously violated the norms governing civil aviation and endangered the lives of the passengers and crew.”
Stoltenberg has branded the Belarus move “a state hijacking.”