Following Minsk's decision to reroute a Ryanair passenger jet and arrest dissident journalist Roman Protasevich last month, the European Union has barred Belarusian airlines from passing over its airspace or utilising its airports.

According to the EU, member nations have been requested to refuse Belarusian airlines permission to land, take off, or fly over their territory.

Belarusian national airline Belavia operates flights between Belarus and 20 European airports, notably Paris and Berlin.

Economic measures were imposed by EU leaders quickly after the events that resulted in Protasevich's imprisonment.

Belarus' international isolation has grown since the May 23 incident, when Belarusian flight controllers informed the crew of a Ryanair plane of an alleged bomb threat. They allegedly told them to arrive in Minsk, where journalist Roman Pratasevich was arrested by authorities.

New sanctions targeting important Belarusian businesses are scheduled to be addressed at the G7 conference next week in the United Kingdom.

The flying restriction would go into force on Saturday (June 5).

It follows after Protasevich, 26, was highlighted in a broadcast on Wednesday in which he claims to be set up by an anonymous colleague in a scheme to grab power in Belarus.

He is always shown arguing that rallies against Lukashenko are now meaningless due to a harsh response, and that the opposition must wait for a more appropriate time.

Dmitri Protasevich, his father, told AFP that his son's broadcast confession was the consequence of "abuse, torture, and threats."

"I know my kid well, and I'm confident he wouldn't ever utter such things," he stated.

Roman goes on to declaring in the hour-long documentary that he'd been in communication with plotters planning a forcible takeover of government in Belarus and that he's also a connection between them and opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanuskaya, who escaped to Lithuania after losing the election to Lukashenko.

He further claimed that the Belarusian authorities had no clue Protasevich was on board the Ryanair flight when it was rerouted to Minsk due to a bomb threat.

Although no device was discovered after the landing, Protasevich and his Russian girlfriend were apprehended.

Belarus has also been shaken by months of protests in the aftermath of Lukashenko's landslide reelection for a sixth consecutive term - an election that many foreign observers and opponents inside the country saw as rigged.

Since the demonstrations began, over 35,000 people have been detained, with reports of severe torture and inhumane treatment of detainees.