Lithuania Declares Nationwide State of Emergency Over Belarus Balloon Threat

Overview

• Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovich was assigned to direct state operations under the emergency measures.
• The Interior Ministry said actions will be targeted and proportionate, focusing only on those involved in illegal activity.
• Airport data report roughly 320 flights disrupted and about 47,000 passengers affected since the crisis began, with nearly 60 hours of closures.
• Lithuania summoned Belarus’s temporary chargé d’affaires on December 3 and delivered a formal note of protest.
• Vilnius temporarily closed the Belarus border in late October and later reopened it to address stranded transporters, some of whom are considering protests.