„There was definitely a lack of action on the part of Lithuania, and all the announcements and boasts that, for example, the prime minister's diplomatic efforts had stopped the hybrid attack are clearly just words. This has nothing to do with reality,“ Čmilytė-Nielsen commented on LRT television on Wednesday.
„We are most dependent on the direction of the wind and are simply in such an unenviable and, I would say, impossible situation that we are dependent on the mercy of Lukashenko's regime. The month we had was perhaps partly due to the negotiations between the US administration and Lukashenko at the time, but mostly, I think, it was simply the direction of the wind. It seems to me that this month was not used to do the necessary groundwork (...). Now we will have to go back to square one,“ she said.
The politician also said she believes that the crisis involving smuggled balloons can be resolved without negotiations with Minsk.
As reported, on Tuesday, VNO operations were suspended three times due to radar detections of navigation signals characteristic of air balloons.
According to Vilmantas Vitkauskas, Head of the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC), this was the most intense influx recorded this year. By Wednesday morning, eight balloons with contraband cigarettes and several balloon remnants had been detected, and four people had been detained.
The last time the capital's airport was disrupted was in December last year.
The influx of contraband balloons from Belarus has significantly decreased after Belarusian authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko met with John Coale, the United States (US) special envoy to Belarus.
He said that the leader of the Minsk regime had promised to stop the smuggling of balloons to Lithuania, which had intensified in recent months.
However, it was later suggested that the decrease in balloon inflows could also have been due to favourable winds.
ELTA recalls that the VNO's activities were suspended several times in October, November, and December last year due to the danger posed by smuggled balloons from Belarus.
Last October, as the flow of smuggled balloons from Belarus intensified, the government declared a nationwide state of emergency. The Medininkai and Šalčininkai border control points were also closed. However, to resolve the situation of carriers stranded in Belarus, the border with Belarus was opened earlier.
Trucks registered in Lithuania and other EU countries remain stranded at the border, as they are not being allowed to leave by the regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.