Lithuania may close its border with Belarus again after cigarette smuggling via balloons disrupted flights and spread to Latvia, warns Prime Minister Rugienenė.
Lithuania may close the border with Belarus again after a resurgence of cigarette smuggling via balloons disrupted flights and spread to neighbouring Latvia, Prime Minister Inga Rugienenė warned.
"We saw positive signs from the other side of the border (after reopening the crossings). But when the situation changes, we have the right and a possibility to consider other strictest measures," Ruginienė told reporters Monday.
"We must convene and discuss all actions that we are taking. We might close the border, and a decision will be made if the situation does not improve," she added.
Rugienenė said the possibility of restoring border restrictions would be discussed with ministers and senior security officials at a meeting of the National Security Commission.
The warning came after a series of incidents that disrupted Vilnius airport operations multiple times. Dozens of flights were cancelled, others were delayed, and many were diverted to other airports. The airport was temporarily closed last Thursday — the same day the border reopened after an earlier closure.
According to National Crisis Management Centre head Vilmantas Vitkauskas, Lithuania faced its most massive weather balloon raid carrying contraband in November over the weekend.
Vilnius has characterised the balloon incidents as a form of hybrid attack.
"We see that the hybrid attack is expanding geographically, and tonight we saw balloons crossing the border with Latvia," Rugienenė said. "This means that this is no longer a Lithuanian problem, but a problem of a wider region."
The prime minister said the initial border closure had produced positive results, leading to a marked reduction in balloon incidents. In response to Lithuania's border closure, Minsk blocked Lithuanian lorries from leaving Belarus, leaving many stranded.
"Smuggled balloons are flying and will probably continue to fly," Rugienenė said. "The border closure has shown one thing: we were right to assess this as a hybrid attack."
Latvia intercepts multiple balloons in single day
Meanwhile, several balloons carrying contraband were detected in Latvia on Sunday, according to Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis speaking to TV3 television.
"The work is still ongoing and the volumes are being clarified, but this phenomenon exists," Kozlovskis said.
Armed forces radar systems recorded the balloons, each carrying around 60,000 cigarettes on average, flying at an altitude of approximately 5 kilometres and drifting into Latvia from Belarus.
Police said the balloons were used to smuggle 720,000 cigarettes into the country. One balloon landed in a forest 60 kilometres from the border.
"They are almost impossible to control, they are carried by the wind," said Valdis Juksh, head of the Daugavpils Regional Department of the State Border Guard.
"After a certain time, when the gas cools down, they descend, but the place where they will land is completely unpredictable. They have GPS trackers attached to them, and that's how the people involved in this illegal activity track and retrieve them."
Two locals have been arrested on suspicion of smuggling.
According to the border service, there has been an increase in illegal migration, with 30 people detained over the past 24 hours attempting to enter Latvia illegally.