Vilnius: Lithuania’s government on Tuesday declared a national emergency over security risks posed by meteorological balloons from Russia-allied Belarus that have violated its airspace in recent weeks.
Tensions between Lithuania and Belarus have escalated after the balloons forced Lithuania to repeatedly shut down its main airport, leaving thousands of people stranded.
“In combating the Belarusian hybrid attack, we must take the strictest measures and defend the areas most affected by this attack,” Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said.
The announcement followed a Cabinet meeting of the Baltic state, which is a NATO member and strong backer of Ukraine in its fight against the Russian forces who launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovic said that the state of emergency means the army would be given the possibility to patrol in the border area, together with police and other uniformed services or alone, in order to detect the balloons.
He promised the impact on civilians would be limited.
While the balloons are used to smuggle cigarettes into Lithuania, officials in Vilnius see their numbers and trajectories as deliberate acts of disruption orchestrated by Belarus. Kondratovic said Lithuanian prosecutors launched an investigation into the balloons and that the secret services would provide information about the connection with the Minsk regime. “I have no information that the Belarusian side is trying to curb the senders of the balloons,” the minister said.agencies