Lithuania to reopen Belarus border after balloons forced shutdown

VILNIUS: The Lithuanian government will reopen two border crossings with Belarus on Thursday that were closed because of smugglers’ balloons crossing the frontier, Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovic said.
He told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday the restrictions were “no longer necessary to ensure internal security.”
The Salcininkai-Benyakoni and Medininkai-Kamenny crossings were closed for one month from October 30, due to the threat to aviation after dozens of balloons loaded with illegal cigarettes entered Lithuanian airspace.
The balloons forced the temporary closure of airports in Vilnius and Kaunas, affecting thousands of passengers. The Lithuanian government and European Union denounced the incidents as a “hybrid attack.”
The border closure inflamed tensions between Lithuania and Belarus, a close ally of Russia.
Belarus seized around 2,000 Lithuanian trucks, which had been stranded in the country following the closure of crossings.
Oleg Tarasov, vice president of Linava, the Lithuanian road carriers’ association, told AFP that an estimated 60 million euros ($69 million) in assets were stuck in Belarus one day after the border closed.
Vilnius officials previously noted that the flow of contraband-carrying balloons had decreased following the shutdown.
After Poland reopened two of its border crossing checkpoints with Belarus on Monday, Lithuanian and Belarusian border officials held talks on smuggling, the stranded trucks, and migration issues.
Several individuals were arrested in Lithuania this month on suspicion of involvement in smuggling.