January 28, Pozirk. Lithuania has handed a note of protest to the Belarusian chargé d’affaires over a mass incursion of balloons from Belarus overnight from January 27 to 28, the Lithuanian foreign ministry reported.
According to the note, the incursions affected five flights and around 700 passengers at Vilnius International Airport. The incident was described as a serious violation of international law and a threat to Lithuania’s security and civil aviation.
Vilnius stressed that Lithuania reserves the right to restrict cross-border traffic and take other measures.
Lithuanian authorities detected about 40 weather balloons entering the country’s airspace from Belarus overnight. Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Center, described the incident as “possibly the most intensive” such attack from Belarus in the past 12 months, Delfi reported.
Last year, Lithuania intercepted 635 balloons and 59 drones used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus, according to the State Border Guard Service. A total of 171 people were arrested on suspicion of involvement in aerial smuggling.
Balloons have been a recurring source of tension between Lithuania and Belarus. Last fall, the issue prompted Vilnius to close the border for three weeks and temporarily suspend operations at Vilnius International Airport on several occasions.
Cigarettes cost the equivalent of about €1 per pack in Belarus and are significantly cheaper than legally sold cigarettes in Latvia and Lithuania, where prices start at around €5. Smuggled NZ-brand cigarettes can be purchased in Vilnius for about €2 per pack.
