Vilnius airport closed again due to smuggled balloons. Lithuania blames Belarus and plans radical measures, including shooting down these balloons.
The airport in Vilnius, Lithuania, was temporarily closed again on Thursday due to the flyover of smuggler’s balloons in its vicinity, the airport announced on Facebook. This is already the sixth such incident since October, TASR reports, according to a Reuters report.
“Based on preliminary information, the decision to impose airspace restrictions was made due to the overflight of a balloon (or balloons) headed for Vilnius Airport,” the airport said. Operations will remain limited until 10:10 p.m. CET.
Blaming Belarus
Lithuania says the balloons violating its airspace are being sent by Belarusian cigarette smugglers. He blames the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, for not stopping the proceedings.
In response to the incidents, the Lithuanian government announced on Wednesday that border crossings between Lithuania and Belarus will remain closed to most travelers until the end of November. In addition, he plans to shoot down these balloons.
Lukashenko’s answer
Lukashenko said on Tuesday that Lithuania had decided to close its borders to prevent some participants from reaching an international conference on Eurasian security in Minsk on October 28-29, using the “crazy balloon hoax” as a pretext.
