Lithuania Takes Aim at Cigarette Balloons

Lithuania may permit its border guards to shoot down balloons carrying contraband from Belarus or Russia when they cross the border, reports The Baltic Times.

“In my opinion, border guards should have the right to shoot them down in the air,” Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas told reporters on Sept. 30.

The minister’s comments came after a balloon, suspected to have come from Belarus and carrying smuggled cigarettes, fell within Vilnius Airport’s airfield on Sept. 28.

Rustamas Liubajevas, the commander of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (SBGS), said that border guards have neither the necessary weapons nor the legal authority to shoot down objects that illegally cross the Lithuanian border by air.

He explained that border guards use assault rifles, which do not have the technical capability to shoot down higher-flying objects.

The SBGS has recorded around 250 incidents involving such balloons in the past month.

Poland too has recorded increased attempts to smuggle cigarettes into its territory by air.