Dozens of balloons employed by smugglers to move cigarettes from Belarus into Lithuania led to the temporary shutdown of Vilnius airport overnight.
The airport in the Lithuanian capital halted operations from 11 p.m. local time on Tuesday until 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The balloons are used to transport Belarusian cigarettes into the European Union, where tobacco prices are higher.
Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s national crisis management center, called this latest balloon incident "the most intense this year." According to the Baltic news agency BNS, flights were suspended "to ensure civil aviation safety."
Lithuanian border officials stated that traffic was also stopped at two land crossings with Belarus overnight before resuming on Wednesday for the same reason.
Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė urged authorities in Minsk to collaborate in preventing future occurrences. She called for Belarus to take "a responsible stance on these incidents, regardless of our political relations."
Ruginienė remarked, "It’s unacceptable that so many balloons are entering our airspace, forcing us to intercept them to protect critical sites."
A comparable situation disrupted Vilnius airport operations on October 5, when 25 balloons were detected in Lithuanian airspace.
Earlier this year, similar balloons landed in Lithuania, including at the airport. Border guards have been authorized to shoot them down since last year.
Official data published this month shows that 966 balloons entered Lithuania last year, with over 500 recorded so far this year.
Neighboring Poland has reported more than 100 similar incidents this year, according to border authorities.
Lithuania is part of the EU and NATO. Airspace violations are a contentious issue following the entry of suspected Russian drones from Belarus in July, one of which carried explosives.
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