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Lithuania to Declare State of Emergency Over Belarus-Based Balloon Smuggling, PM Says
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Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginene announced that the government will declare a state of emergency next week due to the public safety risks posed by smuggled balloons coming from Belarus.
“Experts have determined that the state and form of the emergency will be most effective at this point, and I will follow their advice. Therefore, we will make this announcement next week (the state of emergency). If the situation evolves, we may deepen the measures,” Ruginene said to reporters on December 5, according to LRT.
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The prime minister also mentioned that a technical-level meeting was held on December 4, involving various authorities handling the situation.
She emphasized that mobile teams of officers have been delivering “excellent results.”
“Every evening, and even today, we’ve seen excellent results—another 6,500 packs of cigarettes were seized, which demonstrates solid progress in the fight against smuggling,” Ruginene stated.
According to LRT, under the Crisis Management and Civil Protection Law, a national state of emergency is declared when the impact of an emergency event meets the government’s criteria across two or more municipal territories.
Additionally, if a municipal-level state of emergency lasts more than a year, or requires significant material resources to resolve, civil protection forces from other municipalities will be deployed.
Earlier, the Prime Minister of Lithuania announced that the country will pursue legal action through international judicial bodies in response to Belarus' continued use of smuggling balloons, which have been drifting into Lithuanian airspace.
Inga Ruginienė stated that several government ministries are currently gathering evidence and assessing the feasibility of bringing a case before the International Court of Justice to address the risks and damage caused by these balloon flights. Vilnius Airport has had to close multiple times in recent months due to these incidents.
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-1ccf9187ff85918e4e0ecd6ae66b1aab.jpg "The 13th-14th century Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Fortress, also known as the Akkerman Fortress, situated on the right bank of the Dnister River Estuary, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Odesa Region, southern Ukraine. (Source: Wikimedia)")
