Lithuania reopens border crossings with Belarus after reduction in airspace incidents
Kyiv • UNN
Lithuania is reopening two border crossings with Belarus that were temporarily closed due to smuggler weather balloon flights. The government's decision comes after a reduction in airspace incidents, which previously led to the closure of Vilnius Airport.
Lithuania announced the reopening of two border crossings with Belarus after a temporary closure imposed due to meteorologist balloons launched by smugglers, which disrupted air traffic and caused the closure of Vilnius airport. This was reported by Reuters, writes UNN.
Details
The government announced that the checkpoints would resume operations on Thursday. Earlier, authorities stated that they would remain closed until the end of November, as, according to Lithuania, smugglers were launching balloons with cigarettes from Belarus, and official Vilnius called it a "hybrid attack" and accused Minsk and Alexander Lukashenka personally of inaction.
However, the number of incidents in the airspace has significantly decreased, and Vilnius airport was last forced to close more than a week ago. This allowed the government to change its approach.
Circumstances have changed, and restrictions on crossing the state border are no longer necessary to ensure internal security.
Against this background, Poland also reopened two of its crossings near Lithuania this week, which had been closed earlier "in solidarity." Lukashenka, for his part, criticizes the neighbors' decision, calling the closure a "crazy scam" and accusing the West of "hybrid warfare."
Recall
On October 29, Lithuania officially closed its border with Belarus, citing mass smuggling, and only certain categories of citizens could cross the checkpoints.
In November, Lithuanian border guards stopped eight balloons and a homemade drone launched from Belarus.