ARCHIVE – Flags of NATO member states wave in the wind in front of the NATO summit venue in Vilnius (archive photo). Photo: Mindaugas Kulbis/AP/dpa
Keystone
The judicial authorities in Lithuania have imposed sentences on more than 30 smugglers who had flown cigarettes in from neighboring Belarus using weather balloons.
Investigations are ongoing in more than 30 other preliminary proceedings, in which around 90 people have been identified as suspects, as Prosecutor General Nida Grunskiene said on Lithuanian radio. She did not specify the extent of the penalties.
Illegal transportation by air has repeatedly led to airspace violations and disruptions to air traffic in the Baltic EU and NATO country since the end of last year.
According to Grunskiene, 83 shipments transported by balloon have already been intercepted this year – after 635 in the previous year and 226 in 2024. In contrast, there were only a few cases in 2023 and not a single case in 2022. The balloons are usually used by smugglers to send cigarettes illegally across the border from Belarus. The airport in the capital Vilnius had to be closed several times.
Lithuania considers the increased number of balloons being flown in as a “hybrid attack”, which is largely attributable to the Belarusian leadership in Minsk. In response, the government in Vilnius has since closed the border with Belarus.
A state of emergency has also been in place since December 2025. This allows the authorities and military to react more quickly to airspace violations by balloons. The penalties against smugglers have also been tightened – they now face immediate prison sentences.