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The Baltic nation plans to intercept and destroy aerial devices transporting illicit goods from Belarus, government officials confirmed.

This decision follows after unauthorized aerial incursions necessitated airport closures multiple times over the past week, with weekend disruptions, accompanied by temporary closures of cross-border movement during each incident.

Border checkpoints will now be closed indefinitely due to the ongoing aerial incidents.

Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said, "we are ready to take even the most severe actions against airspace violations."

Government Response

Announcing the actions at a press conference, Ruginiene said the army was taking "complete operational protocols" to intercept unauthorized devices.

Regarding frontier restrictions, 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 Belarus declaring that unconventional threats won't be accepted within our territory, and we'll implement maximum countermeasures to halt these operations," government officials declared.

Authorities received no prompt reaction from the neighboring government.

Diplomatic Measures

Authorities will discuss with international allies regarding the aerial device concerns with possible discussions about implementing Nato's Article 4 - a request for consultation by a Nato member country about national security issues, especially related to its security - the Prime Minister concluded.

Airport Disruptions

Aviation hubs faced multiple shutdowns at the weekend due to weather balloons from Belarus, disrupting air transport and passenger movement, per transportation authority data.

In recent weeks, multiple aerial devices crossed into Lithuanian airspace, resulting in numerous canceled flights and passenger inconveniences, Lithuania's National Crisis Management Centre told the BBC.

The phenomenon is not new: by autumn measurements, 544 balloons were recorded entering Lithuania from Belarus this year, an NCMC spokesman said, with nearly thousand incidents during previous year.

European Context

International air travel hubs - covering northern and central European sites - faced comparable aviation security challenges, involving unmanned aerial vehicles, in recent weeks.