“Because of the balloons” .. the closure of Vilnius Airport in Lithuania

Vilnius Airport in Lithuania said yesterday that it had suspended operations temporarily, because of move Balloons towards its airspace, which led to some incoming flights being diverted to other cities.

The airport operator wrote on its website: “Attention… Vilnius Airport operations have been disrupted,” adding that it was scheduled to reopen at 1:30 am local time (23:30 GMT).

Lithuania says the disturbances were caused by weather balloons transporting smuggled cigarettes from neighboring Belarus, and blames Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to allow the practice, describing it as a form of “attack by all means”.