Brussels/Vilnius – Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys on Monday issued a strong call for the European Union to impose tougher sanctions on Belarus, accusing Minsk of waging a “combined attack” through repeated airspace violations involving smuggling balloons and the continued illegal detention of Lithuanian trucks despite the recent reopening of border crossings.
Speaking ahead of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, Budrys declared: “The EU must act decisively—protect member states, defend companies and their property, impose tougher sanctions on Belarus, and confront this escalation with unity and strength.”
The minister highlighted two main fronts of pressure: large helium balloons carrying contraband cigarettes that have repeatedly drifted into Lithuanian airspace, forcing airport closures, and more than 1,100 Lithuanian lorries that remain blocked inside Belarus even after Vilnius lifted its border restrictions.
“More than 30,000 passengers have been affected, more than 1,000 in a single night last week, and over 200 flights have been redirected or cancelled. We cannot function normally,” Budrys stressed, describing the situation as an orchestrated campaign placing the entire bloc “under economic pressure.”
The crisis began intensifying in late October when a sharp increase in balloon incursions prompted repeated shutdowns of Vilnius and Kaunas airports. Lithuanian authorities confirmed that these were not weather balloons but smuggling devices, some carrying thousands of packs of Belarusian cigarettes and weighing over 100 kilograms each—posing a genuine danger to aircraft.
In response, on October 27 the Lithuanian government authorized the armed forces to shoot down intruding balloons and indefinitely closed two major border crossings with Belarus (Medininkai and Šalčininkai), with the exception of diplomatic traffic and EU citizens leaving Belarus. Airports were repeatedly forced to suspend operations, sometimes for hours at a time, including late into the night.
Minsk retaliated almost immediately by prohibiting Lithuanian trucks already on Belarusian territory from returning home. Drivers were left stranded in parking lots, incurring daily fees, while Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko rejected Lithuanian requests for a humanitarian corridor until the border was fully reopened.
Although Lithuania had initially planned to keep the crossings closed until November 30, the government decided on November 19 to reopen them earlier than scheduled—at midnight on November 20—citing a temporary lull in violations. Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič emphasized that restrictions could be reimposed at any moment if the threat resumed.
However, even after the reopening, Belarusian border guards continued to prevent most Lithuanian trucks from leaving. Lithuania’s public broadcaster LRT reported that as of Monday more than 1,100 rigs remained trapped, prompting Vilnius to deliver a formal diplomatic protest to the Belarusian embassy.
Budrys used the ongoing truck blockade and the earlier balloon incursions to argue that Belarus is employing hybrid tactics to destabilize a NATO and EU member state. He urged the European Union to expand existing sanctions—potentially through a new package—to target Belarusian entities involved in hybrid activities and to introduce protective measures for EU companies facing economic coercion.
Lithuania has been coordinating closely with its Baltic neighbors and Poland. Latvia, Estonia, and Poland have expressed full solidarity, and their foreign ministers have jointly pushed for rapid EU action. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has publicly condemned the balloon incidents as deliberate “hybrid attacks” and pledged unwavering support.
The episode fits into a broader pattern of Belarusian pressure on the EU’s eastern border that began in 2021 with the orchestrated migration crisis and has since included various forms of economic and infrastructural coercion, often seen as carried out in coordination with Russia.
As the EU Foreign Affairs Council convened in Brussels, diplomats indicated that discussions on additional sanctions against Belarus were high on the agenda. While some member states remain cautious about measures that could affect their own economies, there is growing consensus that the bloc must respond firmly to prevent further escalation.
For Lithuanian hauliers, the continued blockade represents millions of euros in lost revenue and mounting costs. Industry representatives have called on the government to consider unilateral countermeasures if the EU response proves too slow.
The standoff underscores the persistent vulnerability of Europe’s eastern frontier and the evolving nature of hybrid threats. What began as an unusual smuggling method using balloons has spiraled into a major diplomatic confrontation, testing both EU cohesion and NATO’s readiness to counter non-traditional forms of aggression.
