Protasevich Street? Bucharest mulls changing address of Belarusian embassy

Opposition blogger and activist Roman Protasevich, who is accused of participating in an unsanctioned protest at the Kuropaty preserve, waits before the beginning of a court hearing in Minsk, Belarus April 10, 2017. Picture taken April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

The street in the Romanian capital Bucharest where the Belarusian embassy is located could be renamed in honour of dissident journalist Roman Protasevich as a gesture of solidarity after his dramatic arrest, a district mayor has said.

The idea was put forward by a Bucharest University professor after a Belarusian warplane intercepted Protasevich's Ryanair flight on Sunday between Greece and Lithuania and forced it to land in Minsk where he and his girlfriend were arrested.

Should the street be renamed, the Belarusian embassy's correspondence and its staff's business cards would carry the name of Protasevich, 26, who for 10 years has been a vocal critic of autocratic Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

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