Lithuania Temporarily Closes Vilnius Airport Due to Unknown Drone and Balloons
In Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, a temporary shutdown of one of the country’s major aviation hubs—the Vilnius Airport—was implemented in the morning of November 5 due to the appearance of an unidentified drone.
Official statements indicate that the incident occurred around 9:50 local time, after which the airport resumed operations nearly half an hour later, at 10:18.
Tadas Vasilyauskas, the airport’s director, reported that the incident had minimal impact on flights, affecting only two rather than multiple routes.
Details are still being clarified, but it is known that there was no cause for panic.
The background to this event involves a prior incident on October 30, when Vilnius Airport had to suspend operations due to the approach of balloons, which Lithuanian authorities call a hybrid attack originating from Minsk.
As a result, Lithuania closed almost its entire border with Belarus for a month, allowing exceptions only for diplomats, transit Russians heading to Kaliningrad, and EU citizens returning to Lithuania from neighboring countries.
Lithuanian aviation authorities and the national airport operator are planning to pursue legal actions to recover damages caused by these unidentified flying objects.
This situation highlights the rising tension in the region and the ongoing hybrid assaults directed by Belarus and Russia aimed at destabilizing Lithuanian security and regional stability.