Italy's foreign minister on Monday condemned as a "state hijacking" the forced diversion by Belarus to its capital of a passenger plane carrying a wanted opposition activist. Luigi Di Maio told an online meeting the move was "unacceptable", adding: "We're talking about a state hijacking", according to Italian news agencies ANSA and AGI. He said he expected the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, to discuss the matter with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. "It is clear that this is not only a European question but a question of the alliance of values that we share with many of our allies, including overseas," Di Maio added. Authorities in Belarus on Monday insisted they acted legally when they diverted Ryanair flight FR4978 from its Athens-to-Vilnius route to Minsk, then arrested one of the passengers, opposition journalist and blogger Roman Protasevich. The government accused the West of making unfounded claims for political reasons. ljm-ar/ams/wdb