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Lithuania will begin to intercept and destroy balloons used to smuggle illicit goods from Belarus, the country's leader announced.

The measure comes after balloons entering Lithuanian airspace necessitated airport closures multiple times over the past week, including at the weekend, while authorities suspended Belarus border crossings temporarily each time.

Frontier crossing points remain suspended indefinitely due to the ongoing aerial incidents.

Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said, "authorities will not hesitate to employ even the most severe actions against airspace violations."

Official Measures

Announcing the actions at a press conference, officials stated defense units were executing "every required action" to shoot down balloons.

About the border closure, Ruginiene said diplomats will still be able to travel for cross-border diplomatic missions, while European Union nationals and Lithuanian residents retain entry rights, but no other movement will be allowed.

"In this way, we are sending a signal to the neighboring nation and saying that no hybrid attack will be tolerated here, and we will take all the strictest measures to prevent similar incidents," she said.

There has been no immediate response from Minsk officials.

Alliance Coordination

The Baltic nation intends to coordinate with partners about the security challenges presented while potentially considering invocation of the alliance's consultation mechanism - a request for consultation by a Nato member country regarding security matters, especially related to its security - officials noted.

Travel Impacts

National air facilities experienced triple closures at the weekend due to weather balloons crossing the international border, disrupting air transport and passenger movement, according to Baltic News Service.

Earlier this month, multiple aerial devices crossed into Lithuanian airspace, leading to 30 flight cancellations affecting 6,000 passengers, according to emergency management officials.

These incidents continue previous patterns: by autumn measurements, 544 balloons were recorded entering Lithuania from Belarus this year, per government spokesperson comments, compared to higher numbers in prior period.

European Context

Additional aviation facilities - including in Copenhagen and Munich - faced comparable aviation security challenges, involving unmanned aerial vehicles, over past months.