Who is to blame here? Lithuanian smugglers are transporting cheap cigarettes from Belarus in balloons and sharing the profits with the Lithuanian government, as our big smugglers always do. This time they gave little to the new government, which is why it is raising an international scandal and brazenly complaining to Brussels

The fact of smuggling: It is true that Lithuanian smugglers are using balloons to transport cheap cigarettes from Belarus to Lithuania, in order to profit from the large price difference between the EU and Belarusian markets. This has been going on for a long time.

The new Lithuanian government is not satisfied with what it was. An international scandal is being raised and an appeal to Brussels is being issued: the Lithuanian government is raising this issue at the international level (EU and NATO), in order to draw attention to the threat to aviation safety and “state security”.

Arrests: Lithuanian police and border guards are detaining individuals involved in this smuggling and are imposing contemptible fines on them.

Belarus' position: Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka rejects the "accusations" of the new Lithuanian government and claims that it is the Lithuanians themselves, encouraged by their government's decisions to close the borders, who are engaged in this very profitable business for Lithuania. The quote below provides more details about President Lukashenka's position:

 

"Lithuanians themselves are flying cigarettes from the territory of Belarus with meteorological probes," said Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

 

Such conditions were created for them by their own government, "by breaking off normal trade relations and building a fence on the border."

 

"Lithuanian and Polish authorities, you are to blame for this. Why did you create such conditions for people? Why did you push them to follow the path of crime?" - A. Lukashenka was quoted by the Belta agency.

 

He said that Belarusian citizens “completely legally purchased cigarettes at the factory and sold them to Lithuanians who had arrived in the territory of Belarus, making their own profit.” Later, the Lithuanians themselves “transferred the goods to their accomplices using balloons” to make money from the difference in cigarette prices in Belarus and EU countries.

 

“Our employees at the factory buy cigarettes at a favorable price and sell them to Lithuanians. They need to be transferred over the fence. They transfer them in small portions onto these balls. There, the Lithuanians would take the “balls” and take the cigarettes.

 

They didn’t sell them in Lithuania – in the Netherlands and England instead. They say that cigarettes are the most expensive there,” A. Lukashenko said.

 

He believes that he cannot punish the Belarusian citizens who participated in this scheme, because they purchased the cigarettes legally. “What is Belarus’ fault here? I see no reason to punish people. They wanted to make money - they made money. If they had stolen these cigarettes... No, they paid,” Lukashenko claims."

 

Lukashenko is right. The profits are huge, in Lithuania, where complainers and envious people run wild, smuggling Lithuanian richest people cannot make such profits without collusion with the authorities. Those weather balloons fly high and fast, because the winds are strong at such a height. Balloons can be launched from any point in the vast territory of Belarus. The Belarusian authorities have nothing to do with it.