Vilnius, Lithuania
AP
—
Up to 25 small hot-air balloons, a few of them confirmed to be carrying smuggled cigarettes, entered Lithuanian airspace late Saturday and compelled the shutdown of Vilnius Airport, delaying flights for hours, authorities stated.
The balloons interfered with 30 flights, impacting some 6,000 passengers, in response to Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center. Flights resumed at 4:50 a.m. Sunday (9:50 p.m. ET, Saturday).
While the balloons turned out to be ferrying cigarettes, Europe is on excessive alert after intrusions into NATO’s airspace reached an unprecedented scale final month. Some European officers described the incidents as Moscow testing NATO’s response, which raised questions on how ready the alliance is towards Russia.
Lithuania and the remainder of the Baltics are particularly involved. On July 10, a drone recognized as a Russian-made Gerbera flew into Lithuania from Belarus and crashed in Vilnius County.
Another crashed at a army coaching floor on July 28 and was discovered every week later. The army later stated it was carrying an explosive system. After these incidents, the parliament voted to permit the armed forces to shoot down any unmanned drone violating its airspace.
Two of the balloons flew above Vilnius Airport, in response to spokesperson Darius Buta. More than two dozen reached the broader Vilnius County. The balloons had been recorded flying between roughly 8:45 p.m. Saturday and 4:30 a.m. Sunday.
Border police recovered 11 balloons and a few 18,000 packs of smuggled cigarettes in numerous places, Buta informed The Associated Press.
Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, is situated some 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the border with Russian ally Belarus. Belarusian smugglers are more and more utilizing the balloons, that are less expensive than drones, for smuggling cigarettes into the European Union, Buta stated.
Similar incidents, however with fewer balloons, had been reported in August. Last yr, 966 hot-air balloons coming into from Belarus had been intercepted by Lithuanian authorities. There have been 544 recorded this yr.
“Both smuggling balloons and drones are criminal activities, but not as provocations or acts of sabotage,” Buta stated.