Lithuania announced it will restore operations at its border checkpoints with Belarus, reversing a closure that had been put in place after airspace disturbances caused by smugglers’ balloons. According to the prime minister’s spokesperson, the two crossings will open again on Thursday.
The government had previously said the closures would stay in effect through the end of November following repeated intrusions by weather balloons drifting in from Belarus, which disrupted flights and temporarily shut down Vilnius airport. Officials in Lithuania say the balloons are used by smugglers transporting illegal cigarettes and have accused Belarus’s President Alexander Lukashenko of allowing the activity, describing it as a “hybrid attack”.
In recent weeks, however, the number of air traffic incidents has fallen, and Vilnius airport’s most recent closure occurred eight days ago. “The circumstances have changed and the state border crossing limitations are no longer needed to ensure domestic security,” Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovic said during a government meeting broadcast live.
Belarus later confirmed it had received formal notice from Lithuania indicating that the two border points would reopen on Thursday at 0100 Minsk time (2200 GMT). The two nations share a total of six border crossings. The Belarusian State Border Committee stated on Telegram that “The Belarusian Border Service is ready to resume the passage of individuals and vehicles at the Belarusian-Lithuanian section of the border”.
This decision follows Poland’s move earlier in the week to reopen two of its crossings with Belarus, near the Lithuanian border, after keeping them closed for two weeks in solidarity with Lithuania.
Lukashenko has criticised the closures as a “crazy scam”, alleging that the West is waging a hybrid conflict against Belarus and Russia and ushering in a new era marked by barbed-wire divisions.
Lithuania has also accused Belarus of holding around 1,000 Lithuania-owned trucks, preventing them from returning after the border was shut.
