European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU is preparing further sanctions against Belarus on Monday, over several violations of Lithuanian airspace by its smuggler balloons.
Writing on X, von der Leyen said that she had just spoken with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda. A series of mass crossings from Belarus into Lithuania by helium weather balloons – loaded with contraband Belarusian cigarettes for sale within the EU – have led relations between the two countries to deteriorate significantly since October.
“The situation at the border with Belarus is worsening, with the growing incursions of smuggling balloons into Lithuania’s airspace,” von der Leyen said, likening the incidents to a “hybrid attack.”
Lithuanian officials have leveled this accusation against the government of Belarusian President Aleksand Lukashenko on several occasions previously.
The head of Lithuania’s state-owned air navigation service said on Monday that the balloons are intentionally being used by Belarus to undermine Lithuania’s civil aviation industry.
“We can see that the balloons are being sent very precisely into the areas most sensitive for us – for aviation and for approaches to Vilnius Airport,” Saulius Batavičius said, as per Lithuanian outlet LRT.
This weekend alone, more than 7,400 passengers and 50 flights were affected at Vilnius Airport – with 31 services cancelled, ten diverted and nine delayed.
In October, Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė ordered the border with Belarus to close over the repeated balloon incursions – a decision which Lukashenko condemned as “absurd.”
However, Lithuania re-opened the border on Nov. 19, roughly 11 days earlier than planned, after thousands of Lithuanian trucks were left stranded in the neighboring country. Belarus refused to open an evacuation corridor for the trucks, insisting instead that the border re-open?
The EU previously sanctioned Belarus over fraud in its 2020 elections, disproportionate violence against peaceful protesters, opposition representatives and journalists, ongoing human rights violations, and complicity in Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine.
The existing sanctions will remain in force until Feb. 28, 2026.
Also on Monday, Belarus summoned Lithuanian ambassador Erikas Vilkanecas over a “violation” of its own border. Belarus accused Lithuania of piloting an “unmanned aerial vehicle of the aircraft type” into Belarusian territory, where it ultimately crashed.
“Such actions pose a threat to the security of the Republic of Belarus and are a direct violation of international law,” Belarusian government spokesperson Ruslan Varankov said, as per AFP.