December 9, Pozirk. Lithuania declared an “extreme situation”—a low-level emergency—earlier today for an indefinite period, Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič told reporters in Vilnius.
“I think that in a month we will return to this decision and review whether we still need it and whether it should be extended,” Delfi quoted him as saying.
Any extension will depend on whether security forces can cope with weather balloons used to deliver smuggled cigarettes from Belarus.
A full state of emergency is declared only in the event of a threat to the constitutional system or public order, he explained. “We do not see such a threat today.”
Interior Minister Kondratovič is in charge of the emergency response operation.
The extreme situation gives the military “special powers to act more effectively—both together with units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and independently,” Kondratovič said.
Tensions between Belarus and Lithuania over cigarette-smuggling balloons have been rising since mid-October, prompting Lithuanian authorities to close the border and suspend operations at Vilnius International Airport, which is located close to the Belarusian border.
Last week, Kondratovič said nearly 600 weather balloons and 197 drones had been spotted in Lithuania since January. The incidents disrupted 350 flights, affecting about 51,000 passengers.
Vilnius International Airport has suspended operations for more than 60 hours since October, most recently on December 6.
The government stressed that the extreme situation has been declared across the entire country, not just in specific regions.
Vilnius International Airport is operating as usual as long as security conditions allow, it added.
“Every night, police, the Border Guard Service, the Criminal Service of Customs and the Military Police raid border areas, inspect thousands of vehicles and individuals, intercept balloons and seize contraband goods. Police are directly supported by the army, which tests means of neutralizing targets and participates in monitoring the airspace,” the statement said.
