Lithuania Announces Indefinite Belarus Border Shutdown
(MENAFN) Lithuania's Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene declared Monday that the nation will indefinitely seal its frontier with Belarus and authorize military forces to destroy any balloons breaching its airspace, responding to four separate violations within seven days.
Following repeated disruptions at Vilnius Airport—which suspended operations four times within a single week after detecting aerial balloons—Ruginiene convened the National Security Commission. Officials presented what she characterized as "a clear algorithm" detailing the government's strategic response to the escalating crisis.
The prime minister confirmed that authorities have finalized measures to impose an indefinite border closure with Belarus, subject to limited exemptions, public broadcaster, reported.
"This means that diplomats and diplomatic mail will be able to move, and our and EU citizens will also be able to enter us from Belarus, but all other movement will be closed. This is how we send a signal to Belarus and say that no hybrid attack will be tolerated here, we will take all the strictest measures to stop such attacks," she said.
Ruginiene further disclosed that armed forces received authorization to deploy "kinetic means" to neutralize incoming balloons through direct military intervention.
Coordination with EU partners on an expanded sanctions package targeting Belarus is already underway, the prime minister emphasized.
"This will be done soon. We are also actively consulting and communicating with our allies and our neighbors Poland and Latvia. Any of our actions are also coordinated with them, we are not a separate state, we are part of NATO and the EU. We coordinate everything we do with them," Ruginiene added.
A proposed Criminal Code revision scheduled for Wednesday's government session will introduce incarceration as the "highest and most severe" penalty for smuggling operations, she announced.
The announcements followed Sunday night's third consecutive closure of Vilnius Airport and multiple Belarus border crossings after authorities detected additional balloons penetrating the nation's airspace.
"Since approximately 10:10 p.m., the passage of vehicles and persons through the Medininkai and Salcininkai border checkpoints has been temporarily suspended due to balloons flying into Lithuania from Belarus," Lithuania's crisis management service said.
Vilnius Airport posted on Facebook that flight operations faced temporary suspension as balloons approached its vicinity, though normal air traffic resumed early Monday morning.
The disruptions represent three straight nights of border shutdowns since Friday, all triggered by balloon-related airport closures. A Tuesday incident involving "meteorological balloons" marked the fourth airport suspension in a single week.
"Our information and experience show that air balloons have so far been used solely for smuggling," Lithuania's border chief Rustamas Liubajevas told the broadcaster on Friday.
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