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Suspected Smuggling Balloons Halt Vilnius Airport, Delaying Flight Carrying Lithuanian Minister
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On the evening of November 20, operations at Vilnius Airport were halted for over an hour due to suspected smuggling balloons arriving from Belarus. The disruption affected ten flights and over 1,100 passengers, according to the National Crisis Management Centre.
This was reported by LRT on November 21.
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The airspace restrictions began at 18:38 and were lifted by 19:55, with initial reports indicating up to ten balloon-like objects entering Lithuanian airspace from Belarus.
Lithuanian Airports confirmed that four flights were canceled, and six others were delayed or unable to land or depart as scheduled. Among the delayed flights was one from Brussels, which was carrying Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys and European Commissioner Andrius Kubilius.
Balloon-based smuggling has been a recurring issue, leading to disruptions at airports and contributing to Lithuania’s decision to close its border with Belarus for a month starting in late October. Although Lithuania reopened two border checkpoints earlier than expected on Thursday, tensions with Minsk remain high.
On the evening of October 30, Lithuania temporarily closed its airspace over Vilnius after balloons were detected near the capital’s airport.
As reported by Politico, the airspace restriction lasted for approximately two and a half hours, from 20:10 to 22:43. At least two flights bound for Vilnius had to return to their original departure airports. Politico, citing local media, noted that this was the sixth instance of air traffic disruptions in Lithuania in the past month.
Earlier, Juozas Olekas, the Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas , emphasized that the Baltic countries need to go beyond merely intercepting Russian aircraft and Belarusian drones. He called for the development of the capability to shoot down any violators of their airspace.
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