Smugglers’ balloons force shutdown of Vilnius airport
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The Lithuanian capital’s airport was closed from 11.00pm local time (4am Singapore time) on Oct 21 to 6.30am on Oct 22.
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VILNIUS – Dozens of balloons used by smugglers to transport cigarettes from Belarus into Lithuania forced the temporary closure of Vilnius airport overnight from Oct 21 to Oct 22, the authorities announced.
The Lithuanian capital’s airport was closed from 11.00pm local time (4am Singapore time) on Oct 21 to 6.30am on Oct 22.
The head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre, Mr Vilmantas Vitkauskas, described the latest wave of balloons as “the most intense this year”.
The decision to suspend flights was made “to ensure the safety of civil aviation”, he was quoted as saying by the Baltic news agency BNS.
Traffic was also stopped for the same reason overnight at two land border crossings between Lithuania and Belarus, before reopening on Oct 22, the Lithuanian border guards said.
Lithuania’s Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene called on the authorities in Minsk to cooperate to prevent similar incidents in the future.
She urged Belarus to adopt “a responsible approach to these incidents, irrespective of our political relations”.
“It’s not normal that so many balloons are crossing our border and that we have to intercept them to keep them away from our strategic sites and installations,” she told reporters on Oct 22.
A similar incident previously disrupted the operation of the airport in Vilnius on Oct 5
Similar balloons landed on Lithuanian soil, including at the airport, earlier in 2025 and border guards have had the right to shoot them down since 2024.
Smugglers use weather balloons to attach Belarusian cigarettes, to sell them in the European Union where tobacco products are more expensive.
A total of 966 balloons entered Lithuania in 2024 and more than 500 so far in 2025, according to official data published earlier in October.
Neighbouring Poland has also seen more than 100 similar incidents in 2025, according to border police there.
Lithuania is a member of the EU and Nato.
Violations of its airspace are a sensitive issue after a number of suspected Russian drones crossed into its territory from Belarus in July, including one carrying explosives. AFP
