Lithuania extends Belarus border closure over balloon attack

After a number of balloons carrying contraband cigarettes entered Lithuania’s airspace, it is tightening its border with Belarus for a month.

According to the BNS news agency, Lithuania’s cabinet decided on Wednesday to hold off traffic at the Salcininkai crossing in the southeast until the end of November while severely restricting access to Medininkai, its only other crossing, close to Vilnius.

Over the balloon incursions, which slowed air traffic at Vilnius airport over the weekend and caused it to shut the two crossings, Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovic said the measures would “send a clear message to our not-so-friendly neighbour.”

Foreigners with valid Lithuanian permits, including diplomats, Lithuanian citizens, citizens of the European Union, NATO members, and their families, will still be able to enter Lithuania via Medininkai, according to BNS. The exemption also applies to humanitarian visa holders.

The Russian exclave wedged between Poland and Lithuania, Kaliningrad, will not be affected by passenger trains traveling between Belarus and the country. According to Lithuanian officials, Russians who are in possession of a transit document that authorizes travel to Kaliningrad can also pass through Medininkai.

The restrictions could be lifted, according to Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene. She told reporters, “We can’t stop attacking Lithuania with a hybrid attack.”

The decision will primarily affect thousands of Belarusian workers who travel between the two nations on a regular basis, but Ruginiene predicted that Lithuanian businesses that still work with Minsk will also suffer.

“Mad scam”

Following last week’s balloon incident, Belarus called on its neighbor to look for complicity within its own borders and condemned Lithuania’s initial border closure.

“Lithuanian politicians have chosen to take advantage of the situation and lay the entire blame at Belarus, thereby tarnishing their own inadequacy (or unwillingness)”? The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement to find the smugglers’ contractors inside Lithuania.

Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko remarked that his country would apologize if its involvement is established, adding, “I guess they need to solve the issue on their end. “

Lithuania, a NATO and EU member on the eastern flank of the Western Alliance, views the balloon’s disruption as a deliberate sabotage by Belarus, which is allies with Russia.

Repeated drone intrusions into NATO’s airspace, which reached an unprecedented level last month, are making it even more alarming. Moscow testing NATO’s response, according to some European officials, was portrayed as a result of the incidents, which raised questions about how well-armed NATO is against Russia.