„The national government is clearly at a loss at the moment and has no clear plan for how to deal with this crisis. But all crises end sooner or later, and I believe that this or another government—you can't know anything for sure these days—will solve this problem,“ the mayor of Vilnius told reporters on Tuesday.
According to him, all state institutions must do their jobs properly, and the national government is primarily responsible for the country's security, air transport, and defence, as well as for measures aimed at influencing Belarus.
„What is happening now with the balloons is, first and foremost, a major blow to Vilnius' reputation, not to mention the fact that it is disrupting people's plans, ruining schedules, and all sorts of other things that are turning into losses,“ added Benkunskas.
„We are monitoring the situation and simply want to see a more active response and proactivity in resolving this situation,“ he said.
According to Benkunskas, the closure of Vilnius Airport due to contraband balloons is damaging business and tourism in the capital.
„So far, we see that the airport management has said that (...) the risk to the number of flights is minimal at this point, but if this continues and the state does not come up with a clear plan on how we are going to solve this problem, the situation could definitely take a turn for the worse,“ said the mayor.
ELTA reminds us that due to the smuggled balloons arriving in Lithuania in recent months, several NSK meetings have been convened, and the issue of Belarus's hybrid attacks is being discussed in various formats at the national and international levels.
In response to the recurring incidents, the Lithuanian government decided at the end of October to close the Medininkai and Šalčininkai border control points with Belarus for a month.
Later, the Minsk regime banned Lithuanian trucks from moving within the country. It was announced that carriers stuck at the border had to keep their vehicles in special parking lots, for which they were charged a fee.
To return the stranded trucks to Lithuania, the two border checkpoints were opened earlier than planned, citing improved conditions and a decrease in the flow of contraband balloons.