Vilnius airport closed overnight for safety reasons after latest incursion of balloons from Belarus
Dozens of balloons used by smugglers to transport cigarettes from Belarus into Lithuania forced the temporary closure of Vilnius airport overnight.
The Lithuanian capital’s airport was closed from 11pm local time on Tuesday to 6.30am on Wednesday. Smugglers use the balloons to send Belarusian cigarettes into the European Union, where tobacco products are more expensive.
The head of Lithuania’s national crisis management centre, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, described the latest balloon incursion as “the most intense this year”. The decision to suspend flights was made “to ensure the safety of civil aviation”, he was quoted as saying by the Baltic news agency BNS.
Traffic was stopped for the same reason at two land border crossings between Lithuania and Belarus overnight before reopening on Wednesday, Lithuanian border guards said.
