Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Kelly raised issues in respect of Belarus. There was great anger at the meeting of the European Council regarding the hijacking of the Ryanair aeroplane and the subsequent treatment of Roman Protasevich and his partner. There was a sense at that meeting that a line had been crossed by the Lukashenko regime and that it was unacceptable. A move was made immediately to initiate strong sanctions against Belarus for its behaviour. In many ways, against the backdrop of President Biden's visit to Europe in the past week or two, this really sets the context for what is essentially now a struggle in the modern world between democracies and authoritarian regimes. More and more, that is where this is heading, when activities of this kind are now almost casually entertained by dictators such as Lukashenko. I condemn what his regime has done. I did not hear any condemnation regarding it in respect of the questions that I have been asked by others, but it was unacceptable behaviour.

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