Lithuania’s Interior Ministry has proposed declaring a nationwide state-level emergency in response to an increased incursion of smuggler balloons from neighbouring Belarus into Lithuanian airspace, BNS reports. The government is expected to decide on the proposal next week. According to the Interior Ministry, altogether 599 smuggler balloons and 197 drones have entered Lithuanian airspace so far in 2025, disrupting 320 flights, affecting 47,000 passengers, and causing nearly 60 hours of airport shutdowns. Earlier, the government closed the border with Belarus temporarily in response to the balloon incursions. The incursions continued after the government reopened the border, ELTA reports. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said that Belarusian authorities were “deliberately and consciously” disrupting civil aviation and called for a joint NATO response, ELTA reported. Smugglers use weather balloons to send contraband cigarettes from Belarus to Lithuania.
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