LITHUANIA SHUTS BORDER WITH BELARUS OVER BALLOON INCURSIONS. (PHOTO).

 Lithuania shuts border with Belarus over balloon incursions

Lithuania announced it will close its border with Belarus in response to repeated airspace breaches by balloons, Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said Monday. She warned that the country’s armed forces would shoot down any balloons that enter Lithuanian airspace.

“We are sending a signal to Belarus that no hybrid attack will be tolerated, and we are taking the strictest measures to stop such attacks,” Ruginienė said. The balloons, believed to be used by smugglers to transport contraband cigarettes, have forced Lithuania to close its airspace over Vilnius multiple times last week and over the weekend, disrupting 170 flights. The border will remain open for EU nationals leaving Belarus and for diplomats.

Although the balloons are not government-launched, Lithuania holds Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko responsible for failing to act. “Inaction is also an action,” Ruginienė said after a National Security Commission meeting. Lithuania, a NATO member, views the incursions as part of a broader pattern of hybrid attacks linked to Lukashenko’s ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center reported that radar detected 66 objects crossing from Belarus on Sunday night. Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys called the incidents “calculated provocations designed to destabilize, distract and test NATO’s resolve.” The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry also noted that on Oct. 23, a Russian Sukhoi SU-30 fighter and IL-78 tanker briefly entered Lithuanian airspace after departing from Kaliningrad.

Ruginienė said Lithuania will push for additional EU sanctions on Belarus and did not rule out invoking NATO’s Article 4, which allows urgent consultations among allies when a member perceives a threat to its security.