On Saturday night (October 25th), Lithuania once again closed the Vilnius Airport and the border crossing with Belarus due to suspected balloons entering its airspace. The Lithuanian government has accused a smuggling group of controlling the helium weather balloons to transport Belarusian cigarettes. They also criticized Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for failing to stop smuggling activities, as Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Putin.
According to Lithuanian officials, flights at Vilnius Airport will be suspended until 2 a.m. GMT (11 p.m. local time) and the border crossing with Belarus will also remain closed until the same time due to the balloons drifting into Lithuanian airspace.
This incident marks the fourth time in October that Lithuania has experienced suspicious balloons entering its airspace. Vilnius Airport was closed on October 5th, 21st, and 24th due to a large number of balloons entering the capital’s airspace.
The Lithuanian National Crisis Management Center reported that on October 5th and 21st, radar detected 25 balloons entering Lithuanian airspace. On October 24th, they detected “dozens of balloons.”
Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene stated on the 24th that “the National Security Council will convene next week to evaluate… short-term measures that can both strike a blow against smugglers and exert pressure on the Lukashenko regime, which allows rampant smuggling activities.”
Since last year, Lithuanian border guards have been authorized to shoot down these balloons. Official data shows that 966 balloons entered Lithuania last year, and this year the number has already exceeded 500. Poland has also experienced over 100 similar incidents this year.
Lithuania also reported that on Thursday, two Russian military aircraft entered its airspace, including a Sukhoi SU-30 fighter jet and an IL-78 tanker aircraft from Russia’s Kaliningrad.
In response, NATO dispatched two Eurofighter Typhoon jets to conduct air patrols in the Baltic region.
In recent weeks, the European aviation industry has been in chaos due to incidents of drones and other airspace intrusions, affecting the operations of airports in Copenhagen, Munich, and the Baltic region.
(This article was compiled based on reports from Reuters and The Guardian.)