Lithuania shuts airports and Belarus border crossings after balloon sightings

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By Andrius Sytas

VILNIUS (Reuters) -NATO member Lithuania closed its two biggest airports on Friday and shut crossings on its border with Belarus after helium weather balloons drifted into its territory, the third such incident in the Baltic nation this month.

European aviation has repeatedly been thrown into chaos in recent weeks by drone sightings and other air incursions, including at airports in Copenhagen, Munich and the Baltic region.

The Vilnius and Kaunas airports were closed for safety reasons until 2 a.m. (2300 GMT), while the Belarus border crossings will remain shut until midday on Sunday, authorities said.

Lithuania has said balloons are sent by smugglers transporting contraband cigarettes, but it also blames Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, for not stopping the practice.

“The National Security Commission will meet next week to assess … what can be done short-term that would be painful to the smugglers and to Lukashenko’s regime, which allows them to thrive,” Lithuania’s Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said in a statement.

Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre said “tens of balloons” had been detected by radar on Friday.

Vilnius Airport also closed on Tuesday of this week and on October 5, when smuggler balloons entered the capital city’s airspace, authorities have said.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas, writing by Louise Rasmussen; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Edmund Klamann)