NATO says KGB is behind controversial wave of balloons
(MENAFN) Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has accused the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) of being behind a series of air balloon incursions that have violated Lithuania’s airspace and heightened tensions along the border between the two countries.
Speaking during a government meeting on Tuesday, Nauseda described the incidents as “a hybrid attack against Lithuania”, claiming they were not simple smuggling attempts but part of a deliberate effort to destabilize the country.
“We have a lot of evidence, both direct and indirect, that it is a deliberate act aimed at destabilizing the situation,” he said, as cited by Delfi. The president alleged that Belarusian authorities, including President Alexander Lukashenko’s government, were complicit in the operations.
“It is quite obvious that special services, the KGB, are involved [in the illegal cigarette business],” Nauseda added, noting that around a quarter of tobacco products sold in Lithuania are contraband, with profits allegedly used to fund Lukashenko’s regime.
Vilnius has warned that it could suspend border crossings with Belarus indefinitely following the repeated incursions, which involved small weather balloons reportedly used to transport smuggled tobacco products.
Nauseda said the Lithuanian Armed Forces were prepared to shoot down any future airspace violations.
In response, Lukashenko dismissed the accusations as a “crazy scam”, claiming Lithuania was using the incidents as a pretext to disrupt the Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security, held in the Belarusian capital this week.
“The closure of the border is too petty even for such a petty country as Lithuania,” Lukashenko said at the event’s opening. Still, he added that Minsk was ready to discuss the incidents and even apologize if evidence showed Belarus was responsible.
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