Lithuania draws up plans to shut Belarus border crossings indefinitely after balloon disruptions

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VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuania's prime minister said Monday that her country has drawn up plans to shut its border crossings with Belarus indefinitely, after flights at the capital's airport were disrupted repeatedly by suspected sightings of balloons used to smuggle cigarettes across the frontier.

Lithuania's National Security Commission met after balloon sightings prompted the suspension of air traffic at Vilnius Airport on three successive evenings — Friday, Saturday and Sunday — causing cancellations, diversions and delays.

On Friday, the airport at Kaunas, which is farther from the Belarusian border, also was affected. The incidents followed similar disruption early Wednesday and on other recent occasions.

Lithuania’s two border crossings with Belarus, at Medininkai and Šalčininkai, were both closed for several hours as a result of each of the balloon incidents. The country's border guard service decided overnight Sunday to close the border for 24 hours, the BNS news agency reported.

Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said the restrictions will be extended until Wednesday, when her Cabinet is expected to decide whether to prolong the closure indefinitely, BNS reported.

Ruginienė said Monday that the government has already drawn up a draft decision to shut the border indefinitely, with exemptions for diplomats and diplomatic mail. Lithuanian and other European Union citizens also would still be allowed to enter from Belarus.

Lithuania, an EU and NATO member, is located on the Western alliance’s eastern flank. It borders Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave as well as Russia-allied Belarus.

Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov denounced the move to shut the border as a “provocation” and suggested that Lithuanian authorities should focus their attention on “organized gangs of Lithuanians who use smuggling for profit.”

“These balloons with smuggled cigarettes have been flying there for ages,” Ryzhenkov said in a statement. “But, most interestingly, we haven’t received any diplomatic notes.”

Ryzhenkov said he discussed the issue with President Alexander Lukashenko, who described the border closure as “sheer stupidity.”

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who lives in exile in Lithuania, said in written comments to The Associated Press that the balloon incidents were “yet another sign that the regime is using cigarette smuggling as a tool of hybrid aggression against Europe.”

“The closure of border crossings is a logical step to protect security," she said. “We support Lithuania and its partners in strengthening sanctions against producers, transporters, and organizers of cigarette smuggling.”