Lithuania extends Belarus border closure over balloon attack

Entry to Lithuania inactive allowed for definite travellers, including EU citizens and humanitarian visa-holders.

Lithuania is tightening its borderline with Belarus for a period aft waves of balloons carrying contraband cigarettes entered its airspace.

Lithuania’s furniture decided Wednesday to proceed halting postulation astatine the Salcininkai crossing successful the southeast until the extremity of November, portion heavy restricting transition astatine its lone different crossing, Medininkai, adjacent the superior Vilnius, according to the BNS quality agency.

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Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovic said the measures would “send a wide connection to our not-so-friendly neighbour” implicit the balloon incursions, which disrupted aerial postulation astatine Vilnius airdrome implicit the play and prompted it to first adjacent the 2 crossings.

Diplomats, Lithuanian citizens, nationals of the European Union and NATO subordinate states and their household members, arsenic good arsenic foreigners with valid Lithuanian permits, volition inactive beryllium allowed to participate Lithuania done Medininkai, BNS reported. The exemption besides applies to holders of humanitarian visas.

Passenger trains betwixt Belarus and Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave wedged betwixt Poland and Lithuania, volition not beryllium affected. Russians holding a transit papers allowing question to Kaliningrad tin besides inactive transverse astatine Medininkai, according to Lithuanian officials.

Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said the restrictions could beryllium extended. “We cannot neglect to respond to a hybrid onslaught against Lithuania,” she told reporters.

The measurement volition chiefly impact thousands of Belarusian workers who regularly question betwixt the 2 countries, but Lithuanian businesses that proceed to enactment with Minsk volition besides beryllium impacted, Ruginiene said.

‘Mad scam’

Belarus condemned Lithuania’s archetypal borderline closure aft past week’s balloon incidental and called connected its neighbour to archetypal look for accomplices wrong its ain borders.

“Lithuanian politicians person decided to exploit the concern and spot each the blasted connected Belarus, frankincense covering up their ain inability (or unwillingness?) to find the smugglers’ contractors” wrong Lithuania, said a connection by the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“If aerial balloons loaded with cigarettes are flying there, I conjecture they request to lick the contented connected their end,” added Belarus’s President Alexander Lukashenko, noting that his state would apologise if its engagement is established.

Lithuania, a NATO and EU subordinate connected the Western alliance’s eastbound flank, views the balloon disruption arsenic a deliberate enactment of sabotage by Russia-allied Belarus.

Its interest is heightened by repeated drone intrusions into NATO’s airspace, which reached an unprecedented standard past month. Some European officials described the incidents arsenic Moscow investigating NATO’s response, which raised questions astir however prepared the confederation is against Russia.

In Belgium, Defence Minister Theo Francken said an probe was nether mode aft “multiple drones were spotted again” overnight Tuesday into Wednesday supra a subject basal successful Marche-en-Famenne successful the eastbound of the country.