Lithuanian Presidential Adviser: We May Close The Border With Belarus
18- 22.10.2025, 15:47
- 20,748
It is necessary to act more rigidly when communicating with the Belarusian authorities.
This was stated on the air of radio LRT by the chief advisor to the Lithuanian President Deividas Matulenis.
"In this case, I think our services should act much tougher when communicating with the Belarusian authorities to properly explain that if something like this happens again, perhaps we will close the border for a longer period of time," he said.
According to the Councillor, a meeting of the National Security Commission will be held today to discuss what measures should be taken in response to the threat posed by smuggled balloons.
Matulenis said the events of last night also showed that it is very important to have a detection system at the border. The councilman stressed that balloons are much more difficult to detect and destroy than drones.
"The problem is that they fly high - at an altitude of three, five, six kilometers. It is no longer a matter of our border guards, it requires appropriate action by our military," he said.
In addition, Matulenis said it is dangerous to shoot down a balloon flying at an altitude of four to six kilometers with a load of several tens of kilograms.
"Sometimes it can pose a greater threat than a balloon that flies to a certain place, drops, and there police officers have to take action to catch it before the smugglers do," the councillor said.
Because of the threat of these balloons, Vilnius International Airport was closed from Tuesday evening to 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, and traffic through the two active border crossing points with Belarus - Miadininkai and Šalčininkai - was temporarily suspended overnight.
The last time Vilnius Airport was hit by smuggled balloons was in early October. At that time, more than 20 weather balloons violated Lithuanian airspace.
Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims
You can contact us by the e-mail charter97@gmail.com
