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The Baltic nation plans to intercept and destroy aerial devices transporting cigarettes from neighbouring Belarus, its prime minister has warned.

The measure comes after balloons entering Lithuanian airspace disrupted air traffic on several occasions recently, including at the weekend, with the government also closing Belarus border crossings temporarily each time.

Frontier crossing points remain suspended indefinitely in response to the helium weather balloons.

The government leader stated, "we are ready to take maximum response protocols against airspace violations."

Government Response

Announcing the actions at a press conference, the Prime Minister confirmed military forces were implementing "complete operational protocols" to shoot down balloons.

About the border closure, the Prime Minister confirmed diplomatic movement continues across the international border, and EU citizens and Lithuanians can enter from Belarus, however general movement continues suspended.

"In this way, we are sending a signal to the neighboring nation stating that asymmetric operations face opposition within our territory, and we'll implement maximum countermeasures to halt these operations," she said.

Authorities received no prompt reaction from Minsk officials.

Diplomatic Measures

Lithuania plans to consult its allies regarding the aerial device concerns while potentially considering invocation of Nato's Article 4 - a provision enabling alliance discussion on any issue of concern, specifically concerning defense matters - she added.

Airport Disruptions

National air facilities experienced triple closures at the weekend due to weather balloons originating from neighboring territory, affecting 112 flights and more than 16,500 passengers, according to Baltic News Service.

In recent weeks, several unauthorized objects traversed the border, causing dozens of flight disruptions impacting thousands, Lithuania's National Crisis Management Centre told the BBC.

These incidents continue previous patterns: through early October, numerous unauthorized objects tracked entering airspace across the frontier in recent months, per government spokesperson comments, compared to higher numbers in prior period.

European Context

Other European airports - such as Scandinavian and German locations - faced comparable aviation security challenges, including drone sightings, in recent weeks.