Lithuania to blow up smugglers, PM warns

Lithuania will begin shooting down balloons used to smuggle cigarettes from neighboring Belarus, its prime minister has warned.

Over the weekend, the government temporarily closed the Belarus border crossing each time, after the Vilnius airport was forced to close several times last week due to balloons entering Lithuanian airspace.

Border posts will now be closed indefinitely in response to helium weather balloons.

Prime Minister Inga Rughinien said, “We are ready to take the strongest possible action when our airspace is violated”.

Announcing the operation at a press conference on Monday, Ruginien said the military was taking “all necessary measures” to bring down the balloons.

Regarding the border closure, Ruginien said that diplomats would still be able to travel between the two countries and that EU citizens and Lithuanians would be able to enter through Belarus, but no other movement would be allowed.

“Thus, we are sending a signal to Belarus saying that no hybrid attack will be tolerated here and we will take all the strictest measures to prevent such attacks,” she said.

There was no immediate comment from Belarus.

Lithuania plans to consult with its allies about the threat posed by the balloons and may discuss activating NATO’s Article 4 – a request for consultation by a NATO member state on any issue of concern, particularly related to its security – she added.

Lithuanian airports were closed three times over the weekend due to weather balloons from Belarus, affecting 112 flights and more than 16,500 passengers, according to the Baltic News Service.

Earlier this month, 25 balloons from Belarus entered Lithuania, causing the cancellation of 30 flights and affecting 6,000 passengers, Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center (NCMC) told the BBC.

The phenomenon is not new: As of Oct. 6, 544 balloons had entered Lithuania from Belarus this year, an NCMC spokesman said, compared to 966 last year.

Other European airports, including Copenhagen and Munich, have also been affected by aerial intrusions with drone sightings in recent weeks.