In Lithuania, they told about the "hardest night" because of the contraband balloons

Vilnius Airport had to be suspended for several hours because of the contraband balloons in Lithuania. This was announced today, November 24, by the head of the National Crisis Management Center (NCMC) Vilmantas Vitkauskas.

According to him, more than 40 images were recorded in total, "indicating that these may be weather balloons." According to the latest data, 6 cargo balloons have already been found. At the same time, Vitkauskas stressed that this is the largest "hybrid attack" for the whole of November and "the hardest night."

"The launches of contraband balloons from Belarus began at 17:00 and lasted until 2:00 at night. The closure of airspace [Vilnius Airport] was caused by a long and intensive launch of meteorological balloons, so it had to be closed first for about 5 hours, and then extended," he said.

Vitkauskas also stated that the weather balloons were allegedly recorded in Latvia.

"Perhaps it is also very important to note that this whole attack has probably acquired even wider geographical scales, and as far as we know, our Latvian neighbors have also received more than 30 marks on their radars," the official said.

In turn, the adviser to the President of Lithuania, Asta Skaisgirite, said that "it was necessary not to rush to open the border and set more conditions."

"So, for example, so that there would be no balloons on the territory of Lithuania [with contraband from Belarus] and our trucks would be released," she believes.

The Adviser noted that these conditions were not put forward as indispensable.

"Therefore, Belarus will continue to do what it wants," says Skysgirite.

According to her, it is necessary to return Minsk to the understanding that "efforts from both sides are needed to de-escalate the situation."

Lithuania has been accusing Belarus of launching contraband balloons for the past few months. At the same time, Vilnius cannot provide evidence of involvement of the authorities of the neighboring republic in what is happening. On October 29, Lithuania decided to unilaterally close the border with Belarus for a month, allegedly to combat air smuggling. In response, Minsk stopped the passage of Lithuanian trucks across the border and ordered them to be put in paid parking lots. As a result, more than 1 thousand Lithuanian trucks were stuck in Belarus. On November 20, Lithuania opened the border, but these trucks are still in place.