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Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhankou called Lithuania’s decision to close its border with Belarus a provocation aimed at justifying anti-Belarus policies and a possible suspension of transit to Russia’s Kaliningrad region.
Ryzhankou said that weather balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes had been flying “all their lives.” Reports of such balloons from Lithuanian authorities began about a year ago, when Belarus introduced a ban on private drone ownership.
He claimed that Lithuania had not sent any diplomatic notes to Belarus. In fact, Lithuania delivered two protest notes to Belarus last week — on October 22 and 25.
“These are some kind of provocations. If someone needs a reason to justify their rhetoric and certain actions against Belarus, against Russia, and ultimately against their own citizens, then they look for such reasons. Those balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes have been flying forever. There are certainly such smugglers. But the most interesting thing is that we didn’t receive any notes. It means they themselves can’t figure out what kind of balloons flew there or what they were — they haven’t found them,” Ryzhankou told the Telegram channel *Vremya Pervogo*.
The foreign minister also accused Lithuania of harboring “gangs of smugglers.”
“Another issue — you can blame anyone you want here in Belarus, but who’s on the other side? If these really are smugglers’ balloons, then who are they? Lithuanians who are profiting from this — organized gangs operating there. So deal with them. Eliminate smuggling in your own country, and there won’t be such problems,” Ryzhankou said.
He also stated that Lithuania had not shown the alleged weather balloons. According to Ryzhankou, Lithuania’s decision to close the border was a provocation intended to justify anti-Belarusian and anti-Russian policies. He did not rule out that Lithuania could restrict transit to Russia’s Kaliningrad region or impose limits on air traffic.
“Besides, no one has presented these balloons — how many there were, what they carried, and so on. It all looks like some kind of provocation intended to justify certain anti-Belarusian and anti-Russian approaches, which could lead to a suspension of transit to the Kaliningrad region and further restrictions on airspace.
So they’re trying to paint us as some kind of barbarians nearby, whose actions are unclear. That’s what this is all about.
It’s difficult to justify to one’s own people anti-Belarusian and anti-Russian measures, so they have to scrape together some negativity. Against that backdrop, a frightened Lithuanian citizen — who, deep down, may worry about this escalating situation and feel the need to find a shelter or stock up on food — will end up supporting the authorities’ actions, believing there is a real threat from the East.
And as the president said today, this is utter nonsense. They think that Belarus or Russia are preparing to march on Paris, London, or somewhere else,” Ryzhankou said.
Last week, Lithuania suspended operations at airports in Vilnius and Kaunas, as well as at border crossings with Belarus, four times due to weather balloons launched from the Belarusian side. Since Sunday evening, the Šalčininkai checkpoint has remained closed, while only limited categories of travelers are allowed to cross through Medininkai.