The Baltic nation plans to eliminate helium balloons carrying contraband tobacco across the border, the country's leader announced.
This action responds after foreign objects crossing the border necessitated airport closures multiple times over the past week, including at the weekend, accompanied by temporary closures of cross-border movement during each incident.
Frontier crossing points remain suspended indefinitely in response to the helium weather balloons.
According to official declarations, "we are ready to take even the most severe actions when our airspace is violated."
Announcing the actions at a press conference, the Prime Minister confirmed military forces were implementing "complete operational protocols" to shoot down balloons.
Concerning border measures, the Prime Minister confirmed diplomatic movement continues across the international border, while European Union nationals and Lithuanian residents retain entry rights, though all other travel remains prohibited.
"This represents our clear message to Belarus declaring that unconventional threats won't be accepted within our territory, and we'll implement maximum countermeasures to stop such attacks," government officials declared.
There has been no immediate response from Minsk officials.
Authorities will discuss with international allies about the security challenges presented with possible discussions about implementing the alliance's consultation mechanism - a request for consultation by a Nato member country about national security issues, especially related to its security - officials noted.
National air facilities experienced triple closures during holiday periods from balloon incidents from Belarus, disrupting air transport and passenger movement, per transportation authority data.
In recent weeks, multiple aerial devices crossed into Lithuanian airspace, resulting in numerous canceled flights and passenger inconveniences, according to emergency management officials.
This situation represents ongoing challenges: through early October, numerous unauthorized objects tracked entering airspace from Belarus this year, per government spokesperson comments, with nearly thousand incidents during previous year.
Other European airports - covering northern and central European sites - experienced similar aerial disruptions, involving unmanned aerial vehicles, during current period.
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