European heads of state have closed the chapter on another leaders summit, this time unexpectedly dominated by Belarus after Sunday's forced landing of a Ryanair flight and subsequent arrest of opposition journalist Roman Protasevich. But that's not the only thing leaders discussed over the past two days. Here's a wrap of the top takeaways. 

How are EU leaders responding to the Belarus incident?  

EU leaders acted with unusual swiftness and force, agreeing to ramp up sanction not only on key figures in President Lukashenko's government - many of whom have already been slapped with travel bans and asset freezes - but to also introduce new "targeted economic sanctions." These are expected to go after companies and oligarchs close to the Belarusian president. Targeting these individuals is something opposition voices have been calling for and could potentially hurt Lukashenko's political standing. It also allows Europe to avoid imposing crippling sanctions on the wider economy. At a press conference after the summit finished Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe was sending an important "political signal." The question now is how effective and wide-reaching these sanctions will be. The commission and High Representative are drafting proposals.  

What about the airlines?

In addition to these sanctions, the EU also agreed to ban Belarusian airlines from entering European airspace, using its airports and they instructed European airlines to avoid the Belarusian air zone. This played out in real time on Tuesday. Normally a major flight path from Europe to Asia, air traffic over Belarus plummeted in the past 24 hours after carriers like Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, British Airways and SAS - among others - started diverting their planes. Belarus looked like an empty hole on the map. "Europe in action," tweeted Council President Charles Michel. (see screenshot above) 

What about vaccine donations?  

EU leaders pledged to donate "at least" 100m doses of COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries this year, with a heavy focus on the COVAX facility. They're already close to reaching that target. Denmark and Sweden both promised to donate three million doses apiece, while last week at the Global Health Summit in Rome, Italy, France and Germany promised to donate a collective 75m doses from their personal stockpiles.  

The EU has managed to secure billions of doses through 2023, enough to vaccine the 450m person population many times over. And while it has donated billions of euros to the COVAX facility, it hasn't sent many actual jabs abroad for donation.  

Leaders also agreed to continue efforts to ramp up global vaccine production capacities less than a week after the EU promised $1.2b to build vaccination manufacturing hubs in Africa.  

Where does the COVID-19 certificate stand?

Good news for wannabe travelers. EU leaders are keen for a summer holiday too. Not a single one stood in the way of welcoming a bloc-wide COVID-19 certificate which could kickstart a surge in summer travel. The leaders called for a "rapid implementation" of the pass and for a revision on travel within the EU to be submitted by mid-June. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said leaders expected an update later this week. But it's not all sunshine and sundowners. EU leaders said they must "stay vigilant" on emerging and spreading variants and to take action when necessary.  

Did they make progress on the climate front?

Not as much as some were hoping. The meeting ended without any better understanding of how the bloc will meet its new 2030 target goal of slashing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent.  Instead, leaders called on the European Commission to put forward its legislative package of 12 proposals outlining how to get there. Michel said the heads of state expressed their "priorities and legitimate concerns" over the ambitious target and also which sectors and countries should carry the heaviest load. In a Facebook post following the summit, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said big companies - which he described as "climate destroyers" - should shoulder the greatest burden.