The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania handed a note of protest to the Ambassador of Belarus in Vilnius. On the eve, the Belarusian helicopter Mi-24 crossed the air border of Lithuania, the press service of the Foreign Ministry reported.
“On Monday, August 24, Ambassador of Belarus to Lithuania Valerijus Baranovskis was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where he was handed a note of protest against the violation of the state border of the Republic of Lithuania,” the statement says.
According to the department, on Sunday, August 23, at 18:50, the Belarusian Mi-24 helicopter crossed the Lithuanian state border in Medininkai, a village located 2 km from the border of Lithuania and Belarus.
Vilnius called on the official Minsk "to clarify the circumstances of the incident and prevent the repetition of such violations."
Prior to that, Belarus accused Lithuania of violating its airspace.
"On Sunday, August 23, at about 19:30, a provocation from the Republic of Lithuania in the Volkovschina area of the Oshmyany region was suppressed by the air force and air defense forces on duty. A probe of eight balloons with anti-state symbols was taken off from the adjacent territory," declared in the Ministry of Defense of the country.
The agency notes that the flight of balloons "was stopped without the use of weapons thanks to the actions of the crews of the Mi-24 helicopters."
It should be noted that relations between the two countries became complicated after the elections in Belarus. Leader of the Belarusian opposition and concurrently the main competitor of President Lukashenko Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has left for Lithuania. In addition, the Seimas of Lithuania did not recognize the results of the presidential elections in Belarus, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs included Lukashenko on the list of persons who are prohibited from entering the country.
