Rising Threat: Smuggling Balloons Trigger Emergency Alert in Lithuania Amid Border Security Concerns

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Smuggling balloons drifting over the Belarusian border have forced repeated shutdowns at the airport in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius, in what authorities call a “hybrid attack” by Belarus, a Kremlin ally.

Since October, the airport just 30km from Belarus has closed more than a dozen times, disrupting hundreds of flights and affecting thousands of passengers.

On Tuesday, Lithuania declared an “emergency situation” over the influx of balloons, describing it as a “hybrid attack” orchestrated by the Belarusian government.

In a significant move, Lithuania has taken a step just shy of declaring a “state of emergency”—a designation reserved for situations where the nation’s “constitutional order” is at risk. This decision highlights the gravity of the ongoing issue at hand.

At the heart of this predicament is the illicit use of balloons for cigarette smuggling. Each balloon can typically transport between 500 to 1,500 packs of cigarettes. The economic incentive is clear: a pack costs under a euro via these means, while the same brand retails for about 4.5 euros in Lithuania.

The high-altitude balloons, filled with helium or hydrogen, fly where the wind takes them but their altitude can be controlled remotely from the ground.

Typically used by meteorologists to probe stratospheric conditions starting 15km above ground, they have been repurposed to smuggle cheap Belarusian cigarettes into Lithuania. The practice surged after tighter border controls were imposed during a 2021 migrant crisis.

First spotted in 2023, the balloons became widespread in 2024, with several hundred recorded.

They pass over the border at an altitude of about 3 to 4km. The smugglers in Lithuania can then communicate with the balloon to track its location, and direct it to land.

The impact of this smuggling has been notably disruptive. Since October, Vilnius Airport has experienced over 60 hours of closure due to the threat posed by these balloons. This has affected more than 350 flights and approximately 51,000 passengers, as reported by the interior ministry, illustrating the widespread inconvenience and economic impact.

In response, Lithuanian officials have approved the use of “kinetic measures” to combat the balloon threat. However, the country’s chief of defence has noted that the army is still in search of cost-effective strategies to detect and neutralize these airborne contraband carriers effectively.

Authorities say the balloons fly at a similar height to airliners approaching an airport, raising the risk of collisions.

Local rules for what constitutes a mid-air risk have recently been upgraded, and the balloons now frequently qualify.

Lithuanian authorities have fine-tuned their detection systems and have been able to better identify whether the flight paths of any identified balloons pose a threat to civil aviation.

Since October, Vilnius Airport has been closed for more than 60 hours due to the threat posed by smuggling balloons, impacting more than 350 flights and approximately 51,000 passengers, according to the interior ministry.

What happens to the cigarettes?

Lithuania says smuggled cigarettes are typically manufactured in Belarus and many are consumed in Lithuania.

The Lithuanian Border Guard confiscated 1.4 million packs of illicit cigarettes in 2024, of which 1.2 million packs were marked for sale in Belarus.

The Lithuanian government initially said the balloons were not being shot down because of the danger to lives or property posed by their heavy payloads.

Officials have since authorised the use of “kinetic measures”, but Lithuania’s chief of defence said the army had not yet found cost-effective methods to identify and bring down balloons.

How has Belarus responded?

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says Lithuania is exaggerating incidents with smuggler balloons but that Minsk does not want a war with its neighbours.

He called Lithuania’s earlier closure of the border, which lasted several weeks, a “crazy scam” and, in turn, accused the West of waging a hybrid war against Belarus and Russia.

Belarus, which allowed its territory to be used for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, has accused Lithuania of deploying a drone to spy on it and drop “extremist material”. Vilnius has rejected this charge.