UPDATE 1-Those responsible for Ryanair 'hijacking' must face sanctions, von der Leyen says

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(Adds details on possible sanctions)

May 23 (Reuters) - EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen pushed for sanctions after the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in Belarus, shortly before a EU summit is set to discuss such measures on Monday in Brussels.

"Those responsible for the Ryanair hijacking must be sanctioned," von der Leyen said late on Sunday on Twitter, adding European Union leaders on Monday would discuss what action to take.

Belarusian authorities scrambled a fighter jet and flagged what turned out to be a false bomb alert to force a Ryanair plane to land on Sunday and then detained an opposition-minded journalist who was on board, drawing criticism from across Europe.

"Journalist Roman Protasevich must be released immediately," von der Leyen, who heads the EU's executive Commission, said on Twitter.

The EU has already imposed three rounds of sanctions on Belarus, and has been working on a fourth round of measures targeting senior Belarusian officials in response to last year's contested presidential election, diplomats told Reuters previously.

Additional sanctions after Sunday's events could include suspending overflights of all EU airlines over Belarus, banning Belarusian airline Belavia from landing at EU airports or suspending all transit, including ground transit, from Belarus to the European Union, according to an official for the 27-member bloc. (Reporting by Sabine Siebold and Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Peter Cooney)