Lithuanian Transport Minister Marius Skuodis expects the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to take further action after findings of its investigation into the Ryanair Athens–Vilnius flight’s forced landing in Minsk will be published in November.
On May 23, Belarusian air traffic controllers instructed a Vilnius-bound Ryanair aircraft with 126 passengers to land in Minsk because of "a potential security threat onboard". A fighter jet was scrambled to escort the plane.
A Belarusian blogger Roman Protasevich and his Russian girlfriend Sofia Sapega were detained after the plane landed in Minsk. A check of the aircraft did not reveal any threats.
In the wake of the diversion, Lithuania asked the ICAO Council for a thorough investigation of the incident under the Chicago Convention.
Read more: Air traffic controller who diverted Vilnius-bound plane to Minsk allegedly missing
During his visit to Montreal, Skuodis met with ICAO Council members, its President Salvatore Sciacchitano, and other representatives of the organisation, the Lithuanian Transport and Communications Ministry said in a press release on Monday.
"This year, we have repeatedly faced incidents of civil aviation being used for illegal or unprecedented objectives," it quoted Skuodis as saying.
"First of all, we are attaching great importance to the ICAO investigation into the forced landing of the Ryanair plane in Minsk. We expect timely submission of a final report in November," he said.
"The actions taken by the organisation after publishing the investigation findings are also extremely important," Skuodis added.
The ICAO's fact-finding investigation team "visited countries related to the incident and gathered information, data, and facts to reconstruct the sequence of events of this incident," according to the ministry's press release.
Belarus' actions drew condemnation from many Western countries and international organisations. In response to the forced landing of the Ryanair flight, the EU banned Belarusian carriers from its airspace and adopted sectoral sanctions against Minsk.
The Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office has launched a pre-trial investigation into the incident. The law enforcement institutions in Poland, where the plane was registered, are also investigating Ryanair aircraft’s forced landing.
According to Skuodis, there is also evidence that international civil aviation is being used to organise irregular migration, such as that of migrants crossing from Belarus into Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland.
Read more: FBI joins Poland, Lithuania in investigating forced plane landing in Minsk
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