Lithuania to declare state of emergency next week

December 5, Pozirk. Lithuania will declare a state of emergency next week as balloon incursions from Belarus threaten public security, Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė has announced.
“To make it easier for combined groups to work, specialists have taken the decision that the state and form of a state of emergency is best suited today. I listen to their opinion,” lrt.lt quoted her as saying.
The cabinet is working on the legal framework, she added.
Lithuanian police retrieved within a week 19 weather balloons used by cigarette smugglers, seizing 35,000 packs of cigarettes, ELTA reported yesterday quoting Police Commissioner General Arūnas Paulauskas.
Police pulled over more than 4,500 vehicles and checked about 5,700 people.
Earlier this week, Lithuanian Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič said that nearly 600 cigarette-smuggling weather balloons and 197 drones had been spotted in Lithuania since January, with tensions rising significantly since October. The incidents disrupted hundreds of flights.
Vilnius is looking forward to the arrival of the NATO support group for repelling hybrid attacks, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys told NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in a phone call yesterday.
Minsk is not combating smugglers and is deliberately attacking Vilnius Airport with contraband balloons in order to disrupt its operations, Budrys said.
In recent days, Lithuanian law enforcers and border guards have carried out large-scale raids, seizing smuggled Belarusian cigarettes and arresting suspects.
NZ cigarettes cost an equivalent of around €1 at stores in Belarus, and are significantly cheaper than legally sold cigarettes in Latvia and Lithuania, where prices start at around €5. Smuggled NZ can be bought at €2 per pack in Vilnius.
Lithuania weighs state of emergency amid Belarus balloon incursions
- SocietyHitchhiking raccoon handed over to wildlife park in Brest regionThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyBelarusian historian Smalančuk awarded Polish-Lithuanian prizeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- EconomyBelarus has 49,000 documented abandoned buildingsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Security, SocietyRussian drones cross into Belarus on three occasions this month – reportsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsFM Ryžankoŭ to represent Belarus at Board of Peace meeting in WashingtonThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- Politics, SecurityVilnius warns Lithuanians against cooperation with Belarus’ KGBThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Security, SocietyDefense ministry refuses to share details on classified radiation sourcesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyChildhood cancer cases in Belarus climb back to 1990s levelsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, PoliticsBelarusian envoy discusses upcoming cooperation event with Oman’s SultanThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- PoliticsReprisals: Brest photographer convicted of extremism after giving birthThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsNobel laureate Bialacki visits Norway’s parliament to discuss human rights in BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- Society
- Society
- EconomyCore inflation slows to 6.9 percentThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityInvestigative Committee: 17 dead migrants found in Viciebsk region in 2025The material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyPoland denies entry to 1,135 Belarusians in 2025The material is available only to POZIRK+



