Lithuania will shut down its border with Belarus permanently and shoot down any balloons entering is airspace, Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said Monday. The prime minister made the remarks after dozens of helium balloons from Belarus entered Lithuania’s airspace- drifting toward major airports and disrupted civil aviation.
“We are sending a signal to Belarus that no hybrid attack will be tolerated, and we are taking the strictest measures to stop such attacks,” Ruginienė said at a presser that followed a meeting of the National Security Commission earlier today in response to balloon sighting. “The armed forces will take all necessary measures, including kinetic measures to shoot down the balloons,” she added.
Ruginienė explained that since Monday, the Lithuanian military has been taking "all the necessary measures" to deal with the incoming weather balloons, including destroying them with weapons.
Writing on X, the Lithuanian prime minister called for a united response to its airspace violation, including tougher sanctions on Russia and Belarus; activation of EU hybrid response teams & Frontex measures; continued isolation of hostile regimes and ensuring they face responsibility for their actions; boosting infrastructure defence. “Autocrats are once again testing the resilience of EU and NATO against hybrid threats,” Ruginienė stressed. Lithuania shut down its borders.
Baloon incidents prompted the suspension of air traffic at Vilnius Airport the past three evenings, causing cancellations, diversions and delays. The country’s two border crossings with Belarus, at Šalčininka and Medininkai, were both shut down for several hours as a result of the balloon sightings. Ruginienė said since Monday the Lithuanian military has been taking "all the necessary measures" to handle the incoming balloons, including destroying them with weapons.
Being Russia’s close ally and supporter of Moscow’s war of invasion in Ukraine with which it has a 1,084-kilometer border, Belarus has raised concerns among its neighbours due to its pro-Kremlin policies. On September 12, Warsaw temporarily closed its border with Belarus in response to the large-scale military exercises conducted by the Belarusian and Russian forces, known as Zapad 2025. It’s worth noting that Belarus hosts dozens of Russian nuclear weapons and is preparing facilities for the deployment of Moscow’s newest hypersonic ballistic missile.
