The Serbian Ministry of the Interior reported over the weekend being targeted by at least five separate distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in 48 hours, intended to hobble the country’s IT infrastructure.

Working together, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Telecom Serbia were able to fend off the DDoS attacks.

“All attacks were repelled and the Ministry’s bases were protected and safe,” the statement said. “Enhanced security protocols have been activated, which can lead to slower work and occasional interruptions of certain services, all in order to protect the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.”

The cyberattacks come amid rising tensions in the Balkans as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.