Lithuania expects Minsk to implement a pledge made to the United States to prevent weather balloons from entering Lithuanian airspace, Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said on Monday.
“Our expectation is that the Belarusian authorities will take the necessary steps and that our critical infrastructure and civil aviation will no longer be disrupted,” he told LRT Radio. “At the same time, of course, we must continue to do our own homework.”
US President Donald Trump’s envoy, John Coale, told Reuters on Saturday that Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko had promised to halt weather balloons originating from his country that enter Lithuania.
Budrys said he had also received confirmation of the pledge, warning that failure to honour it would undermine the substantial efforts of the US administration.
“If Belarus fails to keep this promise, the consequences would be on a completely different level,” he said. “If this becomes a stumbling block in US-Belarus relations, it would affect all aspects of the bilateral relationship.”
According to BNS reports, weather balloons, used by cigarette smugglers, have prompted more than a dozen closures of Vilnius Airport and one at Kaunas Airport in recent months.
Following Lithuania’s temporary restrictions on border checkpoints with Belarus, Minsk has blocked Lithuania-registered hauliers from leaving the country, seeking consultations at the foreign ministry level.
Lithuanian politicians have rejected such calls, insisting the regime is attempting to gain legitimacy and secure the lifting of sanctions.
“It is the Belarusian side that is not talking genuinely,” Budrys said. “What it seeks is not dialogue, but to break political isolation, force negotiations, and use the hybrid attack against us as leverage.”
The foreign minister added that Lithuania remains ready to address border-related issues through an ambassador-at-large tasked with such matters, an option it has formally proposed to Belarus.
Lithuania’s State Defence Council is expected to meet on Monday to discuss measures to counter the threat posed by smugglers’ balloons.
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