The Lithuanian authorities attribute these incidents, which have been repeated since October, to Belarusian cigarette smugglers and describe them as a form of hybrid attack. Vilnius accuses Alexander Lukashenko’s regime of deliberately not taking action against these activities near the borders.
Lithuania’s Vilnius International Airport suspended operations for the second time in a day on Wednesday due to suspicions that balloons had violated the country’s airspace. TASR informs about it according to a Reuters report.
- Vilnius airport suspended operations due to airspace disruption.
- The Lithuanian government says the balloons are sent by Belarusian cigarette smugglers.
- They call the incident a hybrid attack.
- Lithuania closed border crossings with Belarus in October.
- Vilnius airport has canceled operations more than ten times since October.
Hybrid attack of Belarus?
The Lithuanian government claims that the balloons that penetrate the country’s airspace are being sent across the border by Belarusian cigarette smugglers. He calls this activity a hybrid attack and blames Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for deliberately not taking action against smugglers.
In response to these incidents, Lithuania closed both border crossings with Belarus in October. However, she opened them again at the end of November. Lukashenko described the border closure as part of an alleged hybrid war waged against Minsk.
The airport in Vilnius is located about 30 kilometers from the Belarusian border, and since the beginning of October, it has had to suspend its operations due to similar incidents more than ten times.
