Lithuania declares state of emergency over Belarusian balloon risk

The Lithuanian government has declared a “national state of emergency” in response to a series of incursions by weather balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes in neighboring Belarus.

Prime Minister Inga Rugineny condemned the balloon incursion as a “hybrid attack” by Belarus that posed a real risk to national security and civil aviation.

Officials say some 600 smuggling-related balloons and nearly 200 drones have entered Lithuanian airspace this year alone, leading to multiple closures of Vilnius Airport.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has denied being behind the invasion, claiming the issue has been “politicized” by EU and Nato member Lithuania.

Lithuania decided to implement a “state of emergency”, which is a step below the state of emergency. The last time a state of emergency was implemented was in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It gives the armed forces additional powers to respond faster and more effectively.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Belarus’ long-time leader and a close ally of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, said there was overwhelming evidence that the balloon threat was a “deliberate action aimed at destabilizing the situation in Lithuania.”

Many European countries face a range of threats from Russia, which the EU has condemned as a “hybrid campaign” that has included sabotage, damage to critical infrastructure and, most recently, drone flights near sensitive locations.

Last month, Gen. Giuseppe Cavo Dragón, chairman of NATO’s military committee, said the Western military alliance was considering a more “aggressive” or “proactive” stance against Russia’s hybrid warfare.

Lithuania has previously accused Belarus of such provocations. Four years ago, thousands of irregular migrants, mainly from the Middle East, crossed the Belarusian border.

In response to the latest threat, Lithuania closed two border checkpoints with Belarus for three weeks from the end of October. Belarus subsequently banned Lithuanian trucks from its roads, and hundreds of Lithuanian vehicles are still believed to be stranded there.

“We are talking about aviation security and international law and the fact that such acts could be considered terrorism,” Ruginine said last week of the balloons and blocked trucks.

Weather balloons can fly to an altitude of 10 kilometers (6 miles), and Lithuania’s interior ministry said they had caused Vilnius Airport to be closed for more than 60 hours since October. About 30,000 passengers were affected in October alone.

Lukashenko told Belarusian television on Tuesday that it was impossible for Lithuanians to blame Belarus for what they did: “It’s unrealistic. Even if the balloons flew there, even if they did fly, I’ve talked to the pilots and they said it wouldn’t cause any problems.”

“The question is why,” he added. “Do they want to fight us? We don’t need a war. I believe the Lithuanian people don’t need a war either. Neither do the Poles, Latvians and Estonians.”

Although flights to and from Vilnius Airport were only briefly disrupted on Saturday evening, this meant that 1,000 passengers were affected. Authorities said they intercepted 11 smuggled balloons and seized nearly 40,000 packs of cigarettes.

The airport had to suspend operations three times one night last week, and Finnish airline Finnair canceled all evening flights to Vilnius until the end of February because of the balloons.