Border checkpoints between Lithuania and Belarus will be closed to travelers (with some exceptions) until the end of November in response to the systematic entry of balloons with smuggled cigarettes into the country's airspace from Belarus, the Baltic country's Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene announced yesterday, quoted by world agencies, BTA reports.
"We do not rule out a future extension of this period as much as necessary", Ruginiene told reporters. "If the attacks on Lithuania continue, this strict measure will remain in effect for a long time", she added, quoted by Reuters. The border crossings are Šalčininkai and Medininkai, the website of the Lithuanian Radio and Television LRT (LRT.lt) specifies.
Crossing the eastern border with Belarus is only allowed to EU and Lithuanian citizens, as well as people with a right of residence on Lithuanian territory and Russian citizens transiting to and from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which the Baltic state borders to the west, LRT adds.
Foreign citizens with humanitarian visas issued by Lithuania can also cross the border, Reuters explains. A humanitarian visa is issued for a visit for scientific, cultural, socio-political, sports or religious purposes.
Balloons carrying packs of cigarettes have led to the closure of airports in the European Union member state with a population of 2.9 million five times this month. Airport operations in its two largest cities – the capital Vilnius and Kaunas. The balloons' entry into Lithuanian airspace affected about 140 flights and over 20,000 passengers, LRT noted.
Lithuanian police arrested several suspected smugglers who arrived to pick up the packages at the places where the balloons landed. The fines imposed ranged up to several thousand euros.
Lithuanian Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovich said his government was convinced that "these measures send a clear signal to the less-than-friendly neighbor (Belarus - ed.) that is not making any efforts to solve the problem". Belarus' customs authorities condemned the border closure as a "reckless and hostile policy" that would harm trade in the region, Reuters reported.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that the closure of the border with Lithuania was "absurd" and accused the West of waging a hybrid war against Belarus and Russia that was ushering in a new era of division, Reuters reported. "If some balloons with cigarettes or something else are flying there (in Lithuania - ed.), they should resolve this issue there. "They are not flying into nowhere, someone is taking them there," Lukashenko said.
Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov called Lithuania's move a "provocation" that he said was intended to justify anti-Belarusian sanctions.
The EU expressed solidarity with Lithuania on Tuesday, calling on Belarus "to take effective measures to control its airspace and state border without further delay, as well as to combat and prevent organized criminal activities on its territory," Reuters reported.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that Europe expressed full solidarity with Lithuania amid the continued violations of its airspace by balloons, Reuters reported. "This is a provocation." We call it by its true name - a hybrid threat," von der Leyen wrote on the social platform "Ex".
"These balloons are not just smuggling tools, but are occurring in the context of a broader targeted hybrid campaign, along with other actions that include state-sponsored (Belarusian) migrant smuggling," said EU foreign policy chief Kaia Kallas on behalf of the 27 member states.
In other news, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda discussed the issue with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who assured the Baltic state of the alliance's support.
US President Donald Trump's envoy for Belarus, John Cole, said Belarus must prevent similar incidents in the future. "I have clearly stated that we stand in solidarity with Lithuania in light of the recent balloon incursions", he said in an article in "Ex", quoted by Reuters.
Lithuanian army begins shooting down balloons
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ruginiene said on Monday that the incidents were definitely a form of hybrid attack and that her country would begin shooting them down. "We understand that this will cause inconvenience to our citizens. We regret this, but we take national security extremely seriously," the prime minister said.
On Tuesday, Lithuanian President Nausėda confirmed that the country's armed forces were "ready to shoot down" balloons coming from Belarus, Lithuanian Radio and Television (LRT/LRT.lt) reported. He added to reporters that closing the Lithuanian border with Belarus would affect the regime in Minsk.
"There is no point in going into details today, as we have not had any new cases of balloons in recent days. However, the Lithuanian Armed Forces have instructions to do so (to shoot them down – ed. note)", he said at a press conference on Tuesday after a meeting with representatives of institutions.
"Our detection systems and our readiness to monitor the airspace are now qualitatively much better, because our capacity has increased. "We can now see exactly everything that is happening not only in our airspace, but from the moment the balloons start to rise on Belarusian territory," the head of state said, quoted by LRT.
Nausėda defended the government's decision to close the border. "The address by (Belarusian President) Alexander Lukashenko is a clear indicator that it hurts, that there is a reaction. We want it to hurt even more. We want this neighboring country to clearly understand that any actions directed against Lithuania will have consequences," the president said.
Nausėda did not rule out the implementation of other measures. "We can, for example, stop or limit Belarusian goods transported by rail. We are not talking about Russia's transit to the Kaliningrad region here - this is regulated by international agreements and Lithuania's commitments. We will also do everything possible to bring back to the negotiating table the discussion that sanctions against Russia and Belarus should be unified and applied in a mirror image. We expect much greater understanding from our partners“, said the president, quoted by LRT.
He is of the opinion that the balloons “are not for smuggling“. “In this case, smuggling is simply a pretext or a tool for a hybrid attack against Lithuania. We have a lot of evidence, both direct and indirect, that this is a deliberate action aimed at destabilizing the situation in Lithuania”, said Nauseda, according to whom it is completely clear that the special services are involved, LRT reported.
“These smuggled cigarettes are sold not only in Lithuania, but also in other EU countries, as well as in Russia. But this is smuggling that supports and finances the regime. "Therefore, the regime has a vested interest in this," Nauseda noted. The Lithuanian head of state said his country may file a lawsuit against Minsk for compensation "for the losses caused by Belarus' actions during this period."
What are balloons and why are they a problem
The Reuters agency published a report yesterday on smuggled balloons in Lithuanian airspace, coming from Belarus. The material by Andrius Sitas is titled "Why smuggled balloons are closing Lithuania's main airport".
High-altitude balloons, filled with helium or hydrogen, fly wherever the wind takes them, but their height can be controlled remotely from the ground, the Reuters report explains. They are usually used by meteorologists to determine conditions in the stratosphere, which begins 15 kilometers above the Earth's surface.
Smugglers are repurposing them to transport cheaper cigarettes from Belarus to Lithuania, the government in Vilnius claims. This is to avoid greater restrictions introduced due to the wave of migrants in 2021 across the Lithuanian land border, Reuters notes.
First spotted in 2023, the smuggling balloons began to be used everywhere last year, when several hundred were registered, the agency said. They cross the border at an altitude of about 3-4 kilometers. Smugglers in Lithuania can then track its location in the air and direct it to land.
A balloon typically carries 500 to 1,500 packs of Belarusian-made cigarettes, which cost less than a euro per pack, compared to 4.5 euros in Lithuania. Vilnius says the smuggled cigarettes are usually made in Belarus and many are consumed in Lithuania.
Lithuanian air navigation services say the balloons fly at a similar altitude to planes approaching an airport, raising the risk of mid-air collisions. Lithuania's definition of "air traffic hazard" was recently updated and balloons now often fall under the "risk" category, Reuters reported.
In recent days, Lithuanian authorities have improved their detection systems and have been able to more accurately determine the flight paths of balloons that pose a threat to civil aviation. Lithuanian border police seized 1.4 million boxes of illegal cigarettes last year, 1.2 million of which were labeled for sale in Belarus.
The Lithuanian government said that the balloons had not been shot down so far because of the danger to life or property posed by their payloads. In an uncontrolled fall, the weight of a single shipment could reach 50 kilograms, experts say.
Resignation in the midst of conflict
A member of the Lithuanian government resigned in the midst of the conflict with Belarus over smuggled balloons. He left his post last week – On Wednesday, October 22, Defense Minister Dovile Šakaliene resigned, world agencies reported. The reason was disagreements with Prime Minister Ruginiene over the issue of the state defense budget.
"How much should Lithuania spend on defense?“, asks the headline of an article on the LRT website. "This issue is at the center of a political dispute that ended with the resignation of Defense Minister Dovile Šakaliene on Wednesday, after a public rift with Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene. Šakaliene had been pushing for a defense budget of at least 5.5% of GDP next year, arguing that Lithuania's geopolitical situation left no room for compromise. The current government project, however, allocates 5.38% of GDP, and only - according to Sakaliene - after the Ministry of Defense convened a meeting with journalists and social media influencers to discuss defense spending, LRT writes.
At this meeting on October 14, opinions were expressed that defense funding would drop to 4.87% of GDP in 2026, below the government's stated target of 5%, LRT notes, adding that this information angered the Prime Minister. She called the meeting “sabotage”, in which she saw an attempt to manipulate public opinion and put pressure on the government.
Before clearly stating that she intends to dismiss the defense minister - regardless of whether Sakaliene intends to leave herself - Ruginiene announced a significant restructuring: oversight of the defense industry will be transferred from the Defense Ministry to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy and Innovation. However, the Ministry of Finance assured that the Defense Ministry will continue to manage almost the entire defense budget of 4.8 billion euros for next year, LRT summarizes.