Lithuanian President proposes closing border with Belarus and restricting transit to Kaliningrad
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has proposed closing the border with Belarus for a long period and restricting transit to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad due to the threat of smuggling. According to the authorities, this is being carried out using Belarusian weather probes. This was reported by the public broadcaster LRT.
“The president assesses the incidents of recent days and airport disruptions as a hybrid attack on Lithuania, which must be responded to in both symmetrical and asymmetrical ways. The government is expected to propose ways to respond in the coming days. Among the options that should be considered are a prolonged closure of the border with Belarus and restrictions on transit to Kaliningrad, the presidential administration said in a statement.
On Tuesday, October 28, Nauseda will convene an interdepartmental meeting to discuss these issues.
As a reminder, on October 24-25, the work of Vilnius Airport was disrupted twice due to flights of balloons carrying Belarusian contraband. On one of the days, problems also arose at Kaunas Airport. In total, air traffic in Lithuania was disrupted three times during the week due to such incidents.
In response to these events, the country’s authorities temporarily closed the border with Belarus several times. After Lithuania closed some border crossings, installed a physical barrier, and tightened border security, weather balloons became one of the most common ways to smuggle cigarettes.
