Recently, inflatable weather balloons that have caused a lot of noise in Lithuania have begun to appear in Latvia as well. What are they dangerous for and can they carry weapons? The portal NRA.lv seeks answers to these questions.
The Minister of the Interior, Rihards Kozlovskis, explained that in the case of Latvia, unlike Lithuania, this does not pose serious threats to critical infrastructure, as there are no airports near the border. However, theoretically, it could fall on someone's head.
In an interview with NRA, Vice Admiral Gaidis Andrejs Zeibots explained: a weather balloon is a large air balloon that rises to an altitude of up to five kilometers and travels in the direction of the wind. Smugglers attach a GPS system to it, the cargo receiver picks up the signal, and receives the package at a designated location.
According to Zeibots, theoretically, such balloons could also transport ammunition. Of course, these balloons cannot carry heavy loads: a conditional five rifles weigh about thirty kilograms, and such a small quantity is not meaningful. Terrorists obtain weapons in other ways.
Much depends on the direction of the wind, but northwestern winds prevail in Latvia. Zeibots reminded that for ships in the port of Liepaja, the most dangerous wind is the southwest wind. According to him, owners will not risk expensive cargo by using such balloons, and according to the Ministry of the Interior, all weather balloons have already been detected.
Fortunately, there are no critical infrastructure facilities in the border areas with Latvia, unlike in Lithuania, where balloons arriving from Belarus with smuggled cigarettes created serious problems for airport operations. Due to threats to civil aviation, Vilnius Airport had to be closed several times. Lithuania did not see a desire from Minsk to resolve the situation with weather balloons, so at the end of October, the Lithuanian government decided to close two border points with Belarus for a month, but later decided to open the Medininkai and Šalčininkai checkpoints earlier than planned, as Belarus banned the exit of Lithuanian trucks that were stuck in Belarusian parking lots.
Since the situation is unresolved, it can be expected that flights of weather balloons with smuggled cigarettes will continue, and this may also affect Latvia.
NBS General Raimonds Graube explained in an interview with NRA that the weather balloons themselves are not a military threat to Latvia, because they are currently used for economic purposes - for delivering smuggled goods to Latvia, which affects the country's tax system.
However, the very fact is dangerous, Graube believes, as it corresponds to the policy implemented by Lukashenko: society is anxious because of this, people understand that with such balloons something else could be delivered to the country. This is a way to influence consciousness and create a sense of threat among people. Such weather balloons have already been used for transporting drugs, but they are not suitable for transporting ammunition, as ammunition is too heavy, and the balloon can land anywhere, even in the center of Riga. A transmitter is attached to the balloon, the cargo receiver picks up the signal and searches for the package, but the flight of the balloon cannot be controlled - it can fall anywhere. Overall, according to Graube, there are many more ways to deliver goods across the border, and the use of balloons is mainly intended to unsettle people.
Graube believes that this "balloon story" is part of hybrid attacks. The aggressor's imagination knows no bounds, and society and the state need to be prepared for anything. He reminded that in Lithuania and Poland warehouses are being set on fire, drones are flying over airfields - this is part of the toolkit of hybrid warfare.
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