Roman Protasevich, blogger and Belarusian dissident, appeared on state TV to praise President Alexander Lukashenko. Protasevich’s interview came 10 days after Belarusian authorities pulled him off a Ryanair flight that was forced to land in Minsk. Blogger is currently being held on charges of terrorism and inciting anti-government riots.

In the interview, Protasevich said he organized “mass unrest” in Belarus to protest Lukashenko’s government, which is supported by the Russian government.

“I realised that many things Aleksandr Grigoryevich is criticised for are just attempts to pressure him, and that in many moments he acted like… a man with balls of steel”, - Protasevich said.

He added: “Poland and Lithuania have an interest in supporting the protests in Belarus because it lets them make loud statements with the approval of the collective West”.

Protasevich went on to say he regretted calling on Belarus’ public to organize and distanced himself from Lukashenko’s political opponent, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

At the end of the interview, he burst into tears and said he hoped one day to marry and have children.