Lithuania shuts airports, Belarus border crossings after balloon sightings

Move to adjacent Vilnius, Kaunas airports and borderline comes aft helium balloons drifted into the country’s territory.

NATO subordinate Lithuania has closed its 2 biggest airports and unopen crossings connected its borderline with Belarus aft helium upwind balloons drifted into its territory, the 3rd specified incidental successful the Baltic federation this month.

European aviation has repeatedly been thrown into chaos successful caller weeks by drone sightings and different aerial incursions, including astatine airports successful Copenhagen, Munich and the Baltic region.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 3Lithuanian president says Russian jets violated the country’s airspace
• list 2 of 3Military and civilian drills successful Lithuania arsenic concerns implicit Russia increase
• list 3 of 3US deploys craft bearer amid hardening stance towards Venezuela

The Vilnius and Kaunas airports were closed connected Friday for information reasons until 2am (23:00 GMT), portion the Belarus borderline crossings volition stay unopen until midday connected Sunday, authorities said.

Lithuania has said balloons are sent by smugglers transporting contraband cigarettes, but it besides blames Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a adjacent state of Russian President Vladimir Putin, for not stopping the practice.

“The National Security Commission volition conscionable adjacent week to measure … what tin beryllium done short-term that would beryllium achy to the smugglers and to Lukashenko’s regime, which allows them to thrive,” Lithuania’s Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said successful a statement.

Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre said “tens of balloons” had been detected by radar connected Friday.

Vilnius airdrome besides closed connected Tuesday of this week and connected October 5, erstwhile smuggler balloons entered the superior city’s airspace, authorities said.

The incidental comes aft 2 Russian subject craft concisely entered Lithuania’s airspace successful what appeared to beryllium a caller provocation from Moscow.

Lithuania’s equipped forces said successful a connection that the 2 craft whitethorn person been conducting refuelling exercises successful the neighbouring Russian exclave of Kaliningrad erstwhile they flew 700 metres (0.43 miles) into the state astatine 6pm section clip (15:00 GMT) connected Thursday.

“This is simply a blatant breach of planetary instrumentality and territorial integrity of Lithuania,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said connected X successful effect to that incursion, adding that his state would summon Russian embassy representatives to protestation against reckless and unsafe behaviour.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence, however, denied the incursion had taken place.

It said the flights were conducted “in strict compliance” with rules and “did not deviate from their way and did not interruption the borders of different states”.

Russian craft and drones person reportedly besides violated airspace successful Estonia and Poland successful caller weeks.

The events person heightened anxiousness that Russia’s Putin mightiness beryllium investigating NATO’s antiaircraft reflexes.