According to a press release, a military airplane MiG-29 violated the Lithuanian air-space by entering the country's territory at Pogarenda village in Varėna District (southern Lithuania) at 1:05 PM Lithuanian time on Wednesday.
"The airplane stayed above the Lithuanian territory about two minutes," the ministry's Information and Public Relations Department told BNS.
In a note handed to the Belarusian Embassy on Thursday, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry "asked to submit thorough information in connection to the violation of the Lithuanian air-space and take steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future," the ministry said.
The incident took place on the second day of Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich's visit in Lithuania. He was in the Baltic state on Wednesday and Thursday.
At a meeting with the Belarusian prime minister, Lithuania's Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius said he expected a warm-up in the EU-Minsk relations, adding that Lithuania's presidency over the EU Council in the second half of 2013 could contribute to the objective.
Last year, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko issued a strong reaction to a campaign launched by a Swedish public relations agency when a small airplane with Swedish pilots entered the Belarusian air-space from Lithuania and airdropped hundreds of teddy-bears with slogans in support of free press.
After the incident, Lukashenko sacked Air Force and border chiefs, as well as the foreign minister, also demanding an explanation from Lithuania. Lithuanian prosecutors recently handed over the investigation to the Swedish law-enforcement.
Minor violation
The flight was a minor violation that Lithuania's relevant services duly record in time, Defense Minister Juozas Olekas said in comment of the incident on Friday.
"Indeed, we responded by registering the event, and I think it ended quite well. It was in line with all procedures. Thus I am happy that we demonstrated good control and I'd say good communication with our neighbors in Belarus – in such a situation, we can call them and notify them to get a reaction," Olekas told journalists.
Asked whether jets serving in the NATO Baltic air-policing mission were instructed to take off because of the incident, Olekas said the violation was minor and "did not require any additional response."
"First of all, we managed to register the fact of an approaching jet that entered our territory, and as the violation was minor and the plane turned right back, we did not require any additional response," the minister added.
