Lithuania shut down its two largest airports on Friday and closed crossings on its border with Belarus after helium weather balloons drifted into its airspace for the third time this month. Authorities said Vilnius and Kaunas airports would remain closed until 2am local time on Saturday, while the Belarus border crossings are set to stay shut until midday on Sunday.
This is the latest in a series of incidents that have disrupted European aviation, with drone sightings and other air incursions causing chaos at airports in cities including Copenhagen, Munich, and across the Baltic region. Lithuania, an EU member state, has accused smugglers of using the balloons to transport Belarusian cigarettes into the EU, where tobacco products are more expensive.
Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene blamed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for not stopping the practice. “The national security commission will meet next week to assess ... what can be done short-term that would be painful to the smugglers and to Lukashenko's regime, which allows them to thrive,” she said in a statement.
Lithuania's national crisis management centre reported that “tens of balloons” were detected by radar on Friday. The Vilnius airport was also closed on Tuesday and on 5 October, when 25 balloons crossed into Lithuanian airspace. Official data shows that 966 balloons entered Lithuania last year, with more than 500 so far this year. Neighbouring Poland has experienced over 100 similar incidents this year.
In a separate incident, Lithuania reported that two Russian aircraft—a Sukhoi SU-30 fighter and an IL-78 tanker—entered its airspace on Thursday, flying from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. They penetrated 700 metres into Lithuanian airspace before leaving after 18 seconds, likely during aerial refuelling training. Nato scrambled two Eurofighter Typhoons in response. Lithuania's foreign ministry summoned the Russian charge d'affaires and issued a “strong protest”, but Russia's defence ministry denied the incursion.
