Belarus deploys cigarette balloons to rankle Lithuania

Officials say they have seized almost 40,000 packets of contraband from just 11 balloons in the last week alone

- ISABELLA REDMAYNE

On Saturday, US president Donald Trump’s envoy John Coale said that Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, had promised to stop weather balloons flying from his country into Lithuania.

It came just days after the Lithuanian government was forced to declare a state of national emergency in response to a surge in balloons flying across the border from Belarus, many of them smuggling cigarettes.

In the past year, experts say that some 600 balloons linked to smuggling and 200 drones have entered Lithuanian airspace, prompting a temporary border shutdown and causing havoc at Vilnius airport.

The balloons are thought to have transported tens of thousands of contraband cigarettes over the border. Last weekend, authorities said they seized almost 40,000 packets of cigarettes from just 11 balloons.

Usually, balloons cross the border at night to avoid detection. Once they land, illegal couriers use SIM/GPS-enabled tracking devices to locate them.

Mr Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, has denied state involvement in the smuggling, arguing it is carried out by criminals taking advantage of low prices in his country.

But Pavel Slunkin, visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, says that this kind of smuggling is “built into the government”. The balloons could be a ploy to pressure Lithuania into entering negotiations with Mr Lukashenko’s dictatorial regime, he suggests.