An information board showing international arrivals is pictured at Vilnius Airport, in Vilnius, Lithuania May 23, 2021. REUTERS/Andrius Sytas Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

VILNIUS, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Lithuania’s Vilnius airport suspended flights for a second time on Wednesday due to suspected balloons in its airspace, the operator said in a statement, the latest in a string of such incidents in recent months.

Lithuania says balloons are sent by smugglers transporting cigarettes from Belarus, but also blames Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, for not stopping what it calls a form of “hybrid attack”.

Lukashenko has accused the West of fighting a hybrid war against Belarus and Russia.

The Vilnius airport, located some 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Belarus, has been closed more than 10 times since early October as a result of similar incidents.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab

Suggested Topics:

Read Next

ago United Kingdom category

ago World category

ago United Kingdom category

ago China category

ago China category

China’s President Xi Jinping met French President Emmanuel Macron in Beijing on Thursday, the French leader’s fourth state visit to the Chinese capital as Europe seeks to rebalance economic and security threats from the world’s second-largest economy.

Site Index

About Reuters

Stay Informed

Information you can trust

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world’s media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.

Read More