Juras Taminskas, Lithuania’s Minister of Transport and Communications, warned the European Parliament’s Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) on Tuesday 27 January of the security risks facing his country with regard to European civil aviation.
The Minister referred to numerous threats to air transport safety, including hybrid attacks from Belarus involving helium balloons released “intentionally to collide with aircraft”. “The Belarus regime is a cynical regime that violates international provisions”, he said.
There have been no fewer than 15 air traffic disruptions in recent months, and around thirty flights have been cancelled as a result. The Lithuanian authorities fear “a loss of confidence among passengers”, less than a year before the country takes over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.
Mr Taminskas explained that balloons are much more dangerous than drones, because they cannot be forced to land. The risk of damage is much greater. Lithuania is working on detection systems. It has reworked the algorithms so that it can act more quickly.
The Minister called for critical transport infrastructures to be protected and for coordinated action to be taken. “Infrastructure must be more resilient, and this is a point to be taken into account in the next Multiannual Financial Framework”, he said.
For their part, MEPs expressed their solidarity with Lithuania and asked how the European institutions could help.
The Lithuanian authorities believe that EU-wide standards should be created for the drone detection system and for the exchange of aerial data. They also stressed the importance of maintaining the country’s air connectivity, given its enclavement. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)