Lithuania's Vilnius airport reopens after airspace disruption

The airport, located some 30 km from Belarus, has been closed more than 10 times since early October

Lithuania's Vilnius airport resumed operations after balloons had forced it to close its airspace earlier, it said on Saturday, the latest in a series of interruptions of the Baltic nation's air traffic in recent months.

Air traffic restarted at 1731 GMT, the airport said.

The airport, located some 30 km (19 miles) from Belarus, has been closed more than 10 times since early October over similar incidents, and was last closed on December 3.

Lithuania says balloons are sent by smugglers transporting cigarettes from Belarus, but also blames Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, for not stopping what it calls a form of "hybrid attack".