Lithuania’s Vilnius airport suspended operations on Thursday after balloons used by smugglers reappeared on radar. This was reported by the Reuters agency with reference to the Lithuanian National Center for Crisis Management. TASR informs about it according to the Reuters agency.
The Lithuanian government says the balloons that violate its airspace are being sent across the border by Belarusian cigarette smugglers. This one called the activity a hybrid attack and blames Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for deliberately not taking action against smugglers.
In response to these incidents, the Lithuanian government closed the border crossings with Belarus at the end of October. She only reopened them on Thursday morning. Lukashenko described the border closure as part of a hybrid war against Minsk. At the same time, however, more than a week ago, he commissioned his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxim Ryžankov, to conduct negotiations with Lithuania on the situation on the common border.
