Amid a continuing wave of contraband-carrying balloons arriving from Belarus, Lithuania has declared a state of emergency. At a cabinet meeting in Vilnius on Tuesday, December 9, officials agreed to extend the measure nationwide.
Emergency rules will allow authorities to respond faster and more effectively to airspace violations and flight disruptions caused by weather balloons. The move also expands the powers of the military in the EU and NATO member state. Troops will help check IDs and vehicles and restrict access to designated areas, Delfi reported.
Authorities said the decision was driven by risks to national security and civil aviation. Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said the emergency measures would not disrupt daily life.
“In confronting a hybrid attack from Belarus, we are forced to take the toughest measures and protect the hardest-hit regions. All agencies involved are pooling resources to neutralize the threat from contraband balloons,” she said.
Plans to declare a state of emergency over the continued influx of weather balloons from Belarus became public last week. According to Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service, hundreds of balloons—so-called weather probes used by smugglers to ferry cigarettes across the border - have entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus since the start of 2025.
In the fall, the balloons began approaching the international airports in Vilnius and Kaunas, prompting repeated flight restrictions. In response, Lithuania temporarily shut its land border with Belarus at the end of October. Belarus then blocked trucks with Lithuanian plates from exiting to the European Union. The border was reopened in November.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in early December that new sanctions against Belarus were being prepared in response to the hybrid attacks on Lithuania. She called the balloon incursions “utterly unacceptable” and expressed “full solidarity” with Lithuania.
