{"id":161487,"date":"2025-10-24T23:45:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T20:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/161487\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"lithuania-closes-border-with-belarus-in-contraband-row","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/161487\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuania closes border with Belarus in contraband row"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>October 24, <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Lithuania has once again closed the border with Belarus in response to incursions by  balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>State Border Guard Service head Rustamas Liubajevas suspended the operation of the Medininkai and \u0160al\u010dininkai border checkpoints to ensure Lithuania&#8217;s security, according to the service\u2019s press office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The airports in Vilnius and Kaunas have also been closed. The aircraft have been redirected to Palanga, Lithuania; Riga, Latvia; and Katowice and Gda\u0144sk, Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Prime Minister Inga Ruginien\u0117, \u201cA large group of contraband weather balloons was launched from Belarus into Lithuania again.\u201d The border will reportedly be closed until 12 p.m. on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aerostat_lrt_vsat_1128x752-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aerostat_lrt_vsat_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aerostat_lrt_vsat_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aerostat_lrt_vsat_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aerostat_lrt_vsat_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aerostat_lrt_vsat_1128x752.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> \u041f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">\u041f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Lithuanian PM vows harsh response to smuggling from Belarus<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">October 23, Pozirk. Lithuanian authorities will respond harshly and immediately to any \u201chostile actions,\u201d including the free movement of smuggled goods from Belarus, Prime Minister Inga Ruginien\u0117 told \u017dini\u0173 Radijas. Her comment refers to yesterday\u2019s Lithuanian airspace violation by cigarette-smuggling &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/161177\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 24, Pozirk. Lithuania has once again closed the border with Belarus in response to incursions by balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes. State Border Guard Service head Rustamas Liubajevas suspended the operation of the Medininkai and \u0160al\u010dininkai border checkpoints to ensure Lithuania&#8217;s security, according to the service\u2019s press office. The airports in Vilnius and Kaunas have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":161480,"template":"","rubric":[30],"class_list":["post-161487","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-security"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lithuania closes border with Belarus in contraband row | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"October 24, Pozirk. Lithuania has once again closed the border with Belarus in response to incursions by balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes. State\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/161487\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lithuania closes border with Belarus in contraband row | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"October 24, Pozirk. Lithuania has once again closed the border with Belarus in response to incursions by balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes. 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