Balloon-smuggling surge prompts Lithuania to permanently shut border with Belarus

Lithuania intends to permanently close its border with Belarus and shoot down any balloons entering its airspace, Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said Monday.

“We are sending a signal to Belarus that no hybrid attack will be tolerated, and we are taking the strictest measures to stop such attacks,” Ruginienė said at a press conference following a meeting of the National Security Commission.

“The armed forces will take all necessary measures, including kinetic measures to shoot down the balloons,” Ruginienė added.

The border is currently closed pending a decision that will be made at a government meeting on Wednesday. It will remain open for EU nationals leaving Belarus and for diplomatic movement.

Lithuanian authorities shut down airspace over Vilnius four times last week and three times over the weekend due to balloons from Belarus violating the country’s airspace. More than 170 flights were disrupted, affecting more than 30,000 passengers.

The National Crisis Management Center reported that radar systems tracking Lithuanian airspace detected 66 objects traveling from Belarus into Lithuania Sunday night, about double the number recorded the previous night.

The balloons, used by smugglers to transport contraband cigarettes from Belarus, are suspected to be hybrid operations. As a result, Lithuania is considering harsher penalties for smuggling, including imprisonment.

Ruginienė also said Lithuania will push for additional sanctions on Belarus at the EU level and did not rule out invoking NATO’s Article 4, which calls for urgent discussions with allies when a member fears its security is at risk. The article has been invoked only nine times in the alliance’s 76-year history, including twice in the last month alone after Russia violated Estonian and Polish airspace.

Lithuania’s ambassador to NATO had said last week that the issue should be treated as an internal problem rather than a matter for the alliance.

An adviser to Lithuania’s president had earlier said that shooting down balloons with firearms is “a mission impossible,” as they fly at an altitude of 8 kilometers above the ground and, depending on weather conditions, at a speed of 100 to 200 kilometers per hour.

Europe has been grappling with how to protect its airspace after a spate of drone sightings and airport closures in recent months.