- Lithuania closed Vilnius airport and the border with Belarus.
- The National Center says they were likely helium-filled balloons.
- The prime minister is planning a long-term solution to protect Lithuanian airspace.
Lithuania again suspended operations at the airport in the capital Vilnius on Sunday evening and closed both border crossings with Belarus after several unidentified objects again crossed its territory. The National Center for Crisis Management (NKVC) said they were likely helium-filled balloons. This is the fourth such incident this week.
According to the LTR news website, Lithuania claims that balloons are sent over its territory by smugglers transporting smuggled cigarettes. At the same time, he accuses the Western-unrecognized president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, of not ordering the relevant authorities to put an end to this practice.
Traffic at the airport in the capital Vilnius was suspended until 01:40 local time (00:40 CET) on Monday, while the border crossings with Belarus Šalčininkai and Medininkai will remain closed until the National Security Commission meets.
Due to repeated incidents with balloons, Prime Minister Inga Ruginiené called it on Monday, the LRT news website reported. The aim of the negotiations is to agree on long-term measures to solve this crisis. The prime minister did not rule out the possibility that a decision on the long-term closure of the Medininkai and Šalčininkai border crossings will be made on Monday.
Vilnius Airport was also closed on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, as well as on October 5. It always happened because of balloons that entered the airspace near the capital. According to the head of the NKVC Vilmantas Vitkauskas, Lithuania’s allies – the EU and the USA – were also informed about this situation, as the closure of the airports affects not only Lithuanians, but also citizens of other countries who use the services of Lithuanian airports. The disruption to their operations affected the plans of more than 10,000 passengers.
In the meantime, the Lithuanian media reported that investigators managed to find another shipment of smuggled cigarettes, which were brought by weather balloon from Belarus. He was found on Sunday in the Vilnius district, representative of the State Border Guard (VSAT) Giedrius Mišutis told the ELTA agency.
ELTA previously reported that one balloon carrying 1,500 cigarette packs was found in the Šalčininkai district. Border guards in Vilnius have detained four persons who are believed to be involved in this case of cigarette smuggling.
