<p>LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Belarus was stripped of hosting next month’s European track cycling championships on Thursday amid an international furor after a passenger jet was diverted to Minsk so a dissident journalist could be arrested.</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.uec.ch/en/actu/172/uec-management-board-decisions-on-27-may-2021">The European Cycling Union</a> cited the “current international situation” for canceling the event in Minsk scheduled from June 23-27. Organizers are looking for a replacement venue.</p>
<p>European Union leaders called the airplane incident a state-sponsored hijacking. Belarus has been in turmoil since authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory last August in a disputed presidential election.</p>
<p>The EU advised member countries’ airlines this week to avoid Belarus airspace and barred the former Soviet republic’s planes from their airports and airspace.</p>
<p>A Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania was told by flight controllers, citing a bomb threat, to land in Minsk on Sunday. A passenger, 26-year-old activist Raman Pratasevich, was taken from the plane.</p>
<p>Cycling officials said they are “working on finding an alternative solution” to stage the track championships.</p>
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