Overview
- Border crossings are shut with a draft decision prepared for an indefinite closure, with limited exemptions for diplomatic traffic and for EU citizens transiting out of Belarus or returning home.
- Vilnius Airport was halted on three consecutive nights and four times over the past week, with Kaunas also affected, disrupting about 170 flights and roughly 27,000–30,000 passengers.
- Radar tracked 66 objects crossing from Belarus in one night, which officials say are balloons used by cigarette smugglers that pose an air-safety risk.
- Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said the armed forces are cleared to use kinetic measures against balloons, and the government is weighing tougher penalties and EU-level sanctions.
- Lithuania says it may seek NATO Article 4 consultations, and Belarus has protested the border closure as tensions over repeated airspace violations grow.