{"id":170660,"date":"2026-01-06T11:35:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T08:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/170660\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"germanys-top-diplomat-smuggling-from-belarus-to-lithuania-must-not-go-unpunished","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/170660\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany\u2019s top diplomat: smuggling from Belarus to Lithuania must not go unpunished"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Video by German Federal Foreign Office \/ Still by Pozirk)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

January 6, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Incursions of cigarette-smuggling balloons from Belarus into Lithuania are unacceptable and should not go unpunished if they continue, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told journalists in Vilnius yesterday.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuania, which borders Russia\u2019s Kaliningrad exclave and Belarus, whose authorities support Moscow\u2019s war in Ukraine, faces some of the most immediate security risks among European Union and NATO members, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tensions between Belarus and Lithuania over cigarette-smuggling weather balloons have been rising since mid-October, forcing Lithuanian authorities to close the border and suspend operations at Vilnius International Airport, located close to the Belarusian border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuania closed all border crossings with Belarus from October 29 to November 20 after a surge in overflights. On December 9, Vilnius declared an \u201cextreme situation,\u201d a low-level emergency, citing what it described as a \u201chybrid attack\u201d from Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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