EU announces new sanctions against Belarus over smuggling weather balloons

The European Union is preparing new sanctions against the Lukashenko regime for launching weather balloons carrying smuggled goods into Lithuania. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated this after speaking with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.

“Such a hybrid attack from the Lukashenko regime is absolutely unacceptable,” she wrote on the social network X. Von der Leyen also expressed full solidarity with Lithuania.

According to the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service, since the beginning of the year, hundreds of weather balloons carrying smuggled Belarusian cigarettes have entered Lithuanian airspace. Since October, some of them have reached the territories of international airports, forcing Lithuanian airports to suspend operations multiple times. In November, Lithuania closed its border with Belarus for almost three weeks, but the balloon incursions near airports did not stop.

Translation carried out with the help of AI.