The Belarusian diplomatic representative was emphasized on Monday that Lithuania considers the deliberate inaction of the Belarusian authorities to be a hybrid attack. Vilnius called on Belarus to take its responsibility as a state seriously and take immediate action to prevent such hybrid attacks,

The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also informed the Belarusian representative that Lithuania is closing the state border with its neighboring country until further notice.

A representative of the Belarusian Embassy was summoned to the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs because on Sunday evening, meteorological balloons launched by smugglers from Belarus violated Lithuanian airspace and once again disrupted civil aviation and public safety.

It has already been reported that last week, airports in Lithuania were closed four times due to weather balloons used to transport smuggled cigarettes from Belarus, affecting a total of more than 140 flights and more than 20,000 passengers.

Lithuania has temporarily closed the Medininkai and Šalčininkai border checkpoints due to the arrival of weather probes in its airspace. A government decision on the future operation of the two border checkpoints with Belarus is expected on Wednesday.

After Lithuania gradually closed four of its six border checkpoints with Belarus since 2023, built a physical fence along the border, and strengthened border security, weather balloons have become one of the most common methods of smuggling tobacco products.