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Authorities have decided to shoot down helium balloons carrying contraband tobacco across the border, its prime minister has warned.

The measure comes after balloons entering Lithuanian airspace necessitated airport closures multiple times over the past week, affecting holiday travel, with the government also closing Belarus border crossings temporarily each time.

Frontier crossing points remain suspended indefinitely due to the ongoing aerial incidents.

The government leader stated, "we are ready to take even the most severe actions during unauthorized aerial intrusions."

Official Measures

Detailing the measures during a briefing, officials stated defense units were executing "every required action" to shoot down balloons.

Regarding frontier restrictions, the Prime Minister confirmed diplomatic movement continues across the international border, with special provisions for EU and Lithuanian nationals, however general movement continues suspended.

"In this way, we are sending a signal to foreign authorities and saying that no hybrid attack will be tolerated within our territory, and we'll implement maximum countermeasures to stop such attacks," government officials declared.

Official communications saw no quick answer from Belarus.

Alliance Coordination

The Baltic nation intends to coordinate with partners regarding the aerial device concerns and may discuss activating the alliance's consultation mechanism - a provision enabling alliance discussion regarding security matters, specifically concerning defense matters - the Prime Minister concluded.

Travel Impacts

National air facilities experienced triple closures over the weekend because of aerial devices originating from neighboring territory, disrupting air transport and passenger movement, according to Baltic News Service.

In recent weeks, several unauthorized objects traversed the border, leading to 30 flight cancellations affecting 6,000 passengers, Lithuania's National Crisis Management Centre told the BBC.

This situation represents ongoing challenges: by autumn measurements, hundreds of aerial devices documented crossing borders from Belarus this year, per government spokesperson comments, while 966 were recorded last year.

European Context

Other European airports - such as Scandinavian and German locations - faced comparable aviation security challenges, including drone sightings, over past months.