{"id":172299,"date":"2026-01-20T12:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T09:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/172299\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"lithuanian-official-says-few-overflights-from-belarus-detected-for-quite-a-while","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/172299\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuanian official says few overflights from Belarus detected for quite a while"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

January 20,<\/strong> <\/em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Lithuania has detected very few overflights by air balloons used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus for quite a long time, Deivadas Matulionis, an aide to the Lithuanian president, told \u017dini\u0173 radijas<\/em> on January 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the Lithuanian airports have operated for 45 without balloon-related disruptions. \u201cWe cannot say 100 percent that\u2026 these balloons will not fly over airports again. We have to wait,\u201d Lrytas<\/em> quoted him as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He credited law enforcement, winds and US involvement in putting pressure on Minsk \u201cto end this hybrid operation\u201d for what he called a marked improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuania\u2019s Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovi\u010d said several days ago that did not plan to lift a state of low-level emergency called \u201cextreme situation\u201d introduced in early December over the overflights of balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt helps us make decisions to engage troops; the army needs such situation,\u201d he is quoted by Delfi<\/em> as saying. He added that the low-level emergency does not affect ordinary people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the start of 2026, Lithuania has intercepted at least seven cigarette-smuggling weather balloons launched from Belarus. Law enforcers seized 24,000 packs of illegally imported cigarettes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Lithuania intercepted 635 balloons and 59 drones used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus into Lithuania, according to the State Border Guard Service. Last year, 171 people were arrested in Lithuania on suspicion of involvement in smuggling by air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balloons have been a source of tensions between Lithuania and Belarus, prompting Vilnius to close the border for three weeks last fall and suspend operations at Vilnius International Airport on several occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cigarettes cost an equivalent of around \u20ac1 at stores in Belarus and are significantly cheaper than legally sold cigarettes in Latvia and Lithuania, where prices start at around \u20ac5. Smuggled NZ cigarettes can be bought at \u20ac2 per pack in Vilnius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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