Lithuania to Declare Emergency as Belarus Sends Balloons Across Border: PM

Lithuania’s Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene announced on Friday that the government will declare a national “emergency situation” in response to a surge of smuggler balloons launched from Belarus.

“We are preparing the necessary legal framework and documents,” Ruginiene told reporters, calling the measure “the best course of action at this time.” The designation would allow national and local authorities to mobilize additional resources to address the balloon activity.

Ruginiene said the government “does not rule out going further,” noting that a formal state of emergency remains a possible next step.

Lithuania’s two busiest airports — Vilnius and Kaunas — have repeatedly had to suspend operations due to balloon incursions. Officials say the balloons, which can reach altitudes of up to 10 kilometres (six miles) and are typically used to smuggle cigarettes, are now being deliberately steered into flight paths, posing a threat to civil aviation.

Smuggling balloons have been present for years, but only in recent months have they forced airport closures, heightening tensions between the neighbouring states.

Lithuania, a member of both NATO and the European Union, has long accused Belarus — a close ally of Russia — of waging “hybrid warfare” through various forms of pressure. The balloon incidents intensified in October, prompting Vilnius to shut down its last two remaining border crossings with Belarus at the end of the month.

Belarus responded by blocking Lithuanian trucks from using its roads and barring them from exiting the country without paying a fee — a move Lithuania described as effectively “holding them hostage.” Thousands of Lithuanian lorries remain stranded in Belarus, even as Minsk has called for negotiations with Lithuania’s foreign ministry.

Vilnius, instead of entering talks, has urged the European Union to impose stronger sanctions on Belarus.