Lithuanian authorities said GPS tracking had allowed the balloons to be monitored “and the exact coordinates of their landing in Lithuania were transmitted to the executors.”
The country declared a nationwide state of emergency last week over the balloons after closing its border with Belarus in October. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys told POLITICO at the time that the car-sized balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes into the country’s airspace constituted “hybrid activities,” even if they were not direct security threats.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also condemned the balloon incursions from Belarus, saying on Dec. 1 that “Such hybrid attack by the Lukashenko regime is completely unacceptable.”
According to Lithuanian Interior Ministry data, at least 600 balloons and 200 drones have entered Lithuania’s airspace so far in 2025, disrupting more than 300 flights, affecting 47,000 passengers and leading to around 60 hours of airport closures.
The arrests of the alleged cigarette smugglers come as frontline countries on the EU’s eastern flank with Russia plead with Brussels to accelerate its upcoming border defense initiatives in the face of opposition from some European capitals.