Flights were suspended from 10:30pm on Tuesday until 6:30am on Wednesday, following sightings of illicit balloon traffic in Lithuanian airspace, the National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) said.
Authorities believe the balloons were used to transport contraband cigarettes from Belarus. Thirty flights were cancelled, and incoming aircraft were diverted to Kaunas and Warsaw airports.
“This morning I already demanded that everyone come with concrete solutions,” Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday. “We must find — not debate, but find — what to do.”
The country’s eastern border with Belarus was also closed after the incident. The NCMC said the balloons appeared to have been launched from multiple locations.
Ruginienė said she would convene a National Security Committee meeting on Wednesday afternoon and called on Belarus to take responsibility for the incursions.
It was the second time this month that cigarette-smuggling balloons forced the closure of Vilnius airport. On 5 October, Lithuanian authorities intercepted at least 11 balloons carrying 18,000 packs of illegal cigarettes.
The closures add to a string of recent disruptions to European airspace. Airports in Copenhagen, Munich and the Baltic states have reported drone-related delays in recent months.
The European Union has previously accused Russia of hybrid warfare activities in the region, though Moscow denies any involvement.
An investigation into the latest balloon incident is ongoing, officials said.
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Russia is willing in principle to resume peace talks with Ukraine and the United States in November, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said after President Vladimir Putin met U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg.
Saudi Aramco has ordered staff to evacuate its headquarters amid escalating Houthi attacks on the kingdom. Two people were killed in an attack on Dammam airport, while Iran's IRGC Navy claimed strikes on seven vessels and warned the U.S. of a wider response.
Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least two people and injured 15 others, including two children, Ukrainian authorities said. Meanwhile, Russia said it had intercepted the vast majority of 630 Ukrainian drones launched towards Moscow.
Yemen's Houthis have denied targeting the holy city of Medina on Wednesday adding that they have not conducted any military operations towards Saudi Arabia either, denying earlier comments from the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
Georgia’s Constitutional Court in Batumi will on Wednesday hear a lawsuit seeking to ban five Georgian opposition parties, four of which collectively gained 784,820 votes (37.79 per cent) in the country’s last national elections in 2024.
Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least two people and injured 15 others, including two children, Ukrainian authorities said. Meanwhile, Russia said it had intercepted the vast majority of 630 Ukrainian drones launched towards Moscow.
Nigeria's first Ebola case in more than a decade may be linked to travel in Uganda, Swiss authorities said on Thursday, although the source of infection remains unclear. Uganda maintains it has no cases of the disease.
Super typhoon Champi is set to batter Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture from Friday (23 October), bringing violent winds, torrential rain and waves up to 11 metres high, as airlines cancel flights and organisers scrap a major festival.
Two women from Austria and Switzerland have been freed after lengthy periods in captivity in Niger, following extensive diplomatic efforts to secure their release amid growing concerns over kidnappings in the Sahel region.
France has reported its first known human case of Shamonda virus following the death of an infected patient, authorities said on Thursday (22 October). The virus, typically found in livestock, is believed to have been transmitted by a biting midge.
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