Lithuania is poised to declare a state of emergency next week, the country’s prime minister announced on Friday. Her comments come following yet another forced closure of Vilnius Airport on Wednesday, due to the presence of balloons in its airspace.

The travel hub, located some 30 kilometres (19 miles) from Belarus, has been closed more than 10 times since early October as a result of similar incidents. Lithuanian officials claim the balloons are part of a hybrid war campaign carried out by its neighbour Belarus on behalf of the Kremlin. Aleksander Lukashenko – the country’s president – is a close ally of Vladimir Putin and has allowed Russian troops to be stationed on his territory.

Lithuania’s Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said the government would introduce the emergency measure next week due to the threat posed to civil safety by the barrage of balloons.

“I am listening to their [experts] opinion, but we will announce it [state of emergency] next week,” she said. “If the situation worsens, we do not rule out the possibility of going further.”

Lithuania has intercepted over 500 balloons launched from Belarus during the course of the year. The balloons have been found to contain contraband cigarettes, as well as GPS trackers.

Officials in Vilnius say in future the balloons could be kitted out with spy cameras, incendiary devices and even explosives.

They also claim the balloons are helping Russia to map out the current weak spots on NATO’s eastern flank each time they cross the border.

A former Deputy Foreign Minister claimed Belarus is steeping up its hybrid attacks and urged for tougher EU action against Lukashenko.

Darius Jurgelevičius told Poland’s TVP channel that the incidents are part of a deliberate effort to test Lithuania’s sovereignty and could spread to other NATO and EU states if unchecked.

He urged his government to resist talks with Minsk, push for tougher EU sanctions, and avoid giving Belarus or Russia any sense of victory in the ongoing hybrid conflict.

Lithuania beefed up its defences on its land border with the Russian enclave Kaliningrad in August, installing tank-stopping “dragon’s teeth” concrete blocks along the frontier.