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By Brendan Cole and Shane Croucher
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NATO member Lithuania has declared a national emergency over smuggling balloons crossing into its airspace from neighboring Belarus, a key ally of Russia.
"It’s clear that this emergency is being declared not only because of disruptions to civil aviation, but also due to national security concerns and the need for closer coordination among institutions,” Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič said during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Lithuania's LRT reported.
The Lithuanian government said the balloons posed a "danger" to human life, property and the environment, and that the actions were seen as a form of hybrid warfare.
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Newsweek contacted the Belarusian and Lithuanian foreign ministries for comment.
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Why It Matters
Tensions between Lithuania and Belarus have increased in recent weeks due to meteorological balloons crossing from Belarus, which have forced the NATO member to repeatedly shut down its main airport.
The incursions add to concerns that hybrid operations along NATO's eastern flank could disrupt the region's security.
While Belarus has has not been involved directly in Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it has been used a staging post for attacks.
What To Know
Lithuania’s state of emergency was announced on Tuesday following a cabinet meeting of the government, which is a strong backer of Ukraine.
The declaration allows state institutions to coordinate their response and involve the military. The decision will be reviewed in a month, according to the country’s interior ministry.
Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko - who is President Vladimir Putin's closest ally - accused Lithuania on Tuesday of escalating and politicizing the issue of weather balloons, playing down the safety fears that pilots face.
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who ran against Lukashenko in 2020 in disputed elections that were followed a crackdown, condemned Minsk's "latest provocations."
"Threats to regional security will continue as long as the dictatorship remains," she wrote on X. "We stand firmly with Lithuania against these hybrid attacks."
Lithuania shares a border with Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad, which is heavily armed and believed to be the epicenter should any hostilities between Moscow and NATO break out.
Earlier this month, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen warned that the situation at the EU's border with Belarus was worsening, and that Brussels was preparing further sanctions to punish Minsk.
"Such hybrid attack by the Lukashenka regime is completely unacceptable," she wrote on X. "Lithuania continues to have our full solidarity."
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also said this month that the wave of balloon incursions was part of the "phase zero" strategy by Russia, whose leader the to pressure NATO through constant low-cost disruptions.
What People Are Saying
Lithuania's Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said on Tuesday: "In combating the Belarusian hybrid attack, we must take the strictest measures and defend the areas most affected by this attack."
Tsikhanouskaya wrote on X: "Lukashenka’s latest provocations using smuggling balloons to disrupt civil aviation have now forced Lithuania to declare a state of emergency. Threats to regional security will continue as long as the dictatorship remains."
Lukashenko said on Tuesday, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti: "It is impossible, it is unrealistic. Even if these balloons flew there, pilots have told me they do not pose any problem."
Update 12/09/25, 06.50 a.m. ET: This article was updated with further information.
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