European Union leaders agree on new sanctions against Belarus, including ban on use of EU airspace, airports

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders have agreed on a set of sanctions against Belarus, including a ban on the use of the 27-nation bloc’s airspace and airports amid fury over the forced diversion of a passenger jet flying between two EU countries in order to arrest an opposition journalist. In what EU leaders have called a brazen “hijacking” of Irish carrier Ryanair’s plane flying from Greece to Lithuania on Sunday, they demanded the immediate release of Raman Pratasevich, a key foe of authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.  The EU leaders on Monday also decided to slap individual sanction of officials linked to the operation, and called on the  International Civil Aviation Organization to start an investigation.