Lithuania Airport Shut Over Cigarette-smuggling Balloons
By Iona Cleave
Around 25 helium-filled inflatables, carrying thousands of counterfeit packs, cross border from Belarus
Lithuania’s main airport was forced to shut down overnight after balloons flew into its airspace, forcing flights to be diverted.
Around 25 weather balloons – later discovered to be carrying smuggled cigarettes across the border from Belarus – delayed flights at Vilnius airport for hours and affected 6,000 passengers.
Security concerns have heightened across Europe after a series of drone flights and air incursions near airports in Copenhagen, Oslo and Munich threw aviation into chaos.
While the balloons in Lithuania turned out to be ferrying cigarettes, some European officials have described the other incidents as Moscow testing Nato’s response and probing its air defences.
Lithuania, an EU and Nato member, has been on high alert for airspace violations after two incidents in July when Russian drones came from Belarus. One was carrying explosives.
In response, the country declared a 60-mile no-fly zone parallel to its border with Belarus, saying this would allow its military to react to violations.
Lithuania, a key backer of Kyiv, shares a 42–mile border with Belarus, Moscow’s main ally in Europe. Vilnius lies just 30 miles from the border.
“Flights at Vilnius airport were disrupted from 22.15pm (8.15pm BST) on Saturday until 4.40am (2.40am BST) on Sunday,” Darius Buta, a national crisis management centre representative, told AFP.
He said around 25 helium-filled weather balloons violated Lithuanian airspace, including two near Vilnius airport, the largest and busiest in the Baltic country. Eleven balloons, carrying 18,000 packs of cigarettes, had been discovered by Sunday morning.
Footage showed the strange-looking objects moving through the darkness overnight, while a package tied to a large white balloon was later photographed in a field.
Similar balloons had landed in Lithuania earlier this year, including at the airport. Lithuanian border guards have had the right to shoot them down since last year.
Smugglers use weather balloons to transport Belarusian cigarette packets that are then sold in the European Union, where tobacco is more expensive. More than 966 such balloons entered into the country last year and 544 this year, said Mr Buta.
“The use of drones and weather balloons by smugglers is considered a criminal activity, but not an act of sabotage or a provocation,” he added.
