Lithuanian MFA issues protest note against Belarus and threatens to close border again
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania has expressed a strong protest to Belarus over airspace violations and the increase in illegal migration.
Lithuanian MFA
According to a statement from the MFA, on April 9, smuggler balloons launched from the territory of Belarus entered Lithuanian airspace, posing a threat to civil aviation. Due to this, the airspace over Vilnius Airport was restricted for more than seven hours.
The Lithuanian MFA also noted that recently there has been an increase in organized attempts to illegally cross the border from Belarus. Since the beginning of the year, 347 such cases have already been recorded.
In this regard, Lithuania demands that Belarus immediately cease systematic violations of its airspace and land border.
Otherwise, the country reserves the right to impose additional restrictions on movement through border crossing points and take other measures to protect security and civil aviation.
On April 2, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, responding to a question about the prospects for dialogue with Lukashenka's Belarus, said:
"If in the next few weeks, within four weeks, there are no balloons, no illegal migrants, all trucks successfully return to Lithuania, and efforts are indeed demonstrated by the regime to normalize relations, at least without creating tension for its neighbor, we will regard this as a sign of goodwill and, perhaps, begin such a dialogue, but for this, there must be very clear conditions, and those that exist at the moment are very far from what could be imagined for starting a dialogue."
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