The airport in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, was reopened on Saturday evening, a few hours after it was closed due to the appearance of suspicious balloons in Lithuanian airspace.

The incident occurred in the context in which the airport has been closed at least ten times since October, due to similar situations. Lithuanian authorities accuse Belarus, an ally of Russia, of sending these balloons, which are associated with smuggling of migrants. Lithuania temporarily closed two border crossing points with Belarus following the incidents, and the authorities in Minsk responded with restrictions on Lithuanian trucks, which Vilnius denounced as an act of "hostage-taking".