Lithuania has closed checkpoints on its border with Belarus in response to balloons entering its airspace from the neighboring country, Reuters reported, citing the Lithuanian National Crisis Management Center.
The airport in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius was closed last night due to balloons used to smuggle cigarettes.
A check on the airport's website shows that a number of flights have been cancelled or delayed, and planes that were supposed to land in Vilnius have been diverted.
"The decision on the border crossings will be reviewed after the airport reopens," the head of the crisis center, Vilmantas, told reporters Vitkauskas.
The National Crisis Management Center explained that the airport's operations were disrupted by "weather balloons used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus".
So far, eight arriving flights have been diverted, including to the Lithuanian city of Kaunas and the capital of neighboring Poland, Warsaw, the operator of Vilnius Airport announced.
This is the latest case in recent times of an airport in Europe being closed due to flying objects, mostly drones.
The incident in Vilnius is the second of its kind this month. The Lithuanian capital's airport was already closed on October 5 due to helium balloons loaded with smuggled cigarettes from the neighboring country.