Some 2,000 trucks were stranded Friday in Belarus after Lithuania closed its border in response to recent airspace disruptions, a truckers association said.

Dozens of balloons loaded with illegal cigarettes entered Lithuania's airspace last week, forcing the temporary closure of airports in the capital Vilnius and Kaunas, affecting numerous flights and thousands of passengers.

Vilnius and the European Union denounced the incidents as a "hybrid attack".

"Around 2,000 trucks are stranded in Belarus," Oleg Tarasov, vice president of Linava, the Lithuanian road carriers' association, told AFP on Friday.

"The Belarusians have seized all Lithuanian vehicles and are not allowing them to leave (the border area). We are being held hostage, our goods are being held hostage," he said.

An estimat

See Full Page