Lithuania to shoot down smuggler balloons, shut Belarus border crossings

In response to repeated interruptions in Belarusian air traffic, Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene has declared that Lithuania will begin detonating smuggler balloons and closing its border crossings with the neighboring nation.

There is no other way to travel, Ruginiene said at a press conference on Monday, adding that only visitors from Belarus and members of the European Union will be allowed to cross the border.

Last week, balloons emitted into Vilnius Airport, which NATO and EU members included Lithuania. In response to the incidents, it frequently temporarily closes its Belarus border crossings.

Ruginiene called the incidents “hybrid attacks,” and that her cabinet will meet on Wednesday to decide whether to delay the border crossing’s closure in Belarus, according to the BNS news agency.

She added that it may also talk about Lithuania’s use of NATO Article 4, which states that any member state may ask for a consultation with others when it believes its “territorial integrity, political independence, or security is in jeopardized.”

In recent weeks, drone sightings and other airborne incursions have caused chaos in European aviation, including at airports in Copenhagen, Munich, and the Baltic region.

Lithuania has claimed that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, sends balloons carrying contraband cigarettes from Belarus into the EU, but it also points fingers at the country for failing to stop the practice.

Belarus didn’t respond right away.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of the Belarusian opposition, wrote in a letter to The Associated Press that the balloon incidents were “yet another indication that the regime is using cigarette smuggling as a tool of hybrid aggression against Europe.”

Russia and Lithuania both denied the incident, while Lithuania claimed on Thursday that two Russian military aircraft entered its airspace for about 18 seconds, prompting a formal protest and a response from NATO forces.

Recent airspace violations shouldn’t be seen as isolated incidents, according to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys.