Lithuania declared a state of emergency on Monday due to a threat to public safety from smuggled balloons entering its airspace from Belarus, Reuters reported, citing the Lithuanian government, BTA reports.
The Baltic republic accuses the neighboring country of allowing smugglers to use weather balloons to transport contraband cigarettes, which has repeatedly forced Vilnius airport to stop working and disrupted air traffic.
“The state of emergency is being declared not only because of disruptions in civil aviation, but also because of the interests of national security“, Lithuanian Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovich said during a government meeting broadcast on live.
The measures give the military greater operational freedom, allowing them to act in coordination with the police or independently, Kondratovich said, without specifying the duration of the emergency measures.
Belarus denied responsibility for the balloons and accused Lithuania of provocations, including the launch of a drone with “extremist materials“. Lithuania rejected the allegations as false.
On December 1, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the situation “deteriorating” and described the balloon incursion into Lithuanian airspace as a “hybrid attack“ that is “completely unacceptable“.
Lithuania has already declared a state of emergency along its border with Belarus in 2021 due to an illegal migration wave, and in 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with restrictions including controlling access to areas and limiting freedom of speech to counter potential Russian propaganda.