The European Union has banned flights of Belarusian airlines in its airspace and their use of its airports.

The move comes in the wake of Minsk’s decision to divert a Ryanair passenger plane to arrest a dissident journalist last month.

EU headquarters said member countries will “be required to deny permission to land in, take off from or overfly their territories to any aircraft operated by Belarusian air carriers, including as a marketing carrier”.

Belarus’ international isolation has deepened since the May 23 incident, in which Belarusian flight controllers told the crew of a Ryanair jet of an alleged bomb threat.

They also instructed them to land in Minsk, where journalist Raman Pratasevich was pulled off the plane by authorities.