Vilnius Airport, Lithuania's main air hub, was forced to suspend operations late Tuesday evening due to the appearance of dozens of hot air balloons used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus, the country's National Crisis Management Agency (NCMC) announced.

"The airport's operations were disrupted by the appearance of meteorological balloons used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus." — the NCMC stated.

According to the agency, the balloons crossed the border and approached the airport area, which required an immediate response.

This isn't the first such incident: on October 3, airspace over Vilnius was closed after suspicious objects were discovered near the village of Baltaja Vok. That incident was also linked to balloon smuggling.

As a result, eight flights were diverted to Kaunas and Warsaw. Passengers were asked to monitor updates from airport authorities. Similar air traffic disruptions have become more frequent in Europe: in recent weeks, problems with drones and unknown objects have been reported in Copenhagen, Munich, and other Baltic countries.