{"id":176253,"date":"2026-02-18T20:47:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T17:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176253\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"lithuania-complains-to-icao-about-balloon-incursions-from-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176253\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuania complains to ICAO about balloon incursions from Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

February 18, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Lithuania has formally complained to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) about invasions of its airspace from Belarus, submitting the collected evidence to the UN agency, Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga R\u016bginien\u0117 told reporters on February 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are not isolated incidents \u2013 we are talking about repetitive actions that affect our civil aviation and create risks for international aviation safety,\u201d BNS<\/em> quoted R\u016bginien\u0117 as saying, according to vz.lt<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transport Minister Juras Taminskas, for his part, predicted that the violations would be recognized as a \u201chybrid attack\u201d by Belarus. \u201cThis would be a serious political blow to a regime that is seeking to reenter the international arena, establish cooperation, present itself as open,\u201d Taminskas said, adding that Belarus is trying hard to prevent ICAO from finding it to be in violation of international civil aviation law, and that an unfavorable conclusion by the agency could pave the way for \u201csubstantial sanctions\u201d against Minsk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taminskas said that he had complained about the airspace violations to ICAO in October 2025, but the organization replied that it needed \u201cconcrete evidence\u201d to probe the incidents. He predicted that the inquiry would take up to a year, considering that ICAO would ask Belarus to provide explanations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Lithuanian transport ministry, Lithuania restricted air traffic at least 16 times since October 2025 in response to incursions of weather balloons carrying Belarusian-made cigarettes. As a result, the airports in Vilnius and Kaunas have repeatedly suspended their operations, which has affected more than 370 flights and about 53,000 passengers and caused more than 2.3 million euros in damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most recent closure of Vilnius International Airport occurred on the evening of February 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning of February, a group of ICAO experts visited Belarus to conduct an audit and inspection of the state flight safety oversight system for civil aviation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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