Lithuania lodges protest to Belarus over airspace violations by balloons

Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a strong protest with Belarus following a new incident involving weather balloons that violated the country’s airspace and posed a threat to civil aviation.

According to a statement by the Lithuanian foreign ministry, the incident led to restrictions in the airspace over Vilnius Airport lasting more than seven hours, Caliber.Az reports, citing Ukrainian media.

The ministry also highlighted an increase in organised illegal migration flows from Belarus. Lithuanian law enforcement authorities reported that 347 attempts to illegally cross the state border have been recorded so far this year.

Lithuania called on Belarus to immediately take measures to halt what it described as systematic violations of its airspace and land border.

The ministry further warned that, should such actions continue, Lithuania reserves the right to reinstate restrictions at border crossing points and introduce additional measures to safeguard its airspace, civil aviation, and national security.

By Vafa Guliyeva