Context: Lithuania has gone several days and even weeks without detecting weather balloons carrying contraband, the prime minister’s adviser noted in mid-December 2025. Vilnius Airport last suspended operations because of the balloons on December 6. At the start of this month, Vilnius declared a state of emergency and carried out a special operation against cigarette smugglers. More than 20 people were detained. U.S. Special Envoy for Belarus John Coale also raised the issue of smuggling in his meeting with Alexander Lukashenko. According to the American envoy, the Belarusian leader promised to do everything possible to stop the balloon launches.
The segment titled “Lithuania’s Economic ‘Achievements’” aired on CTV on December 18, 2025. The news anchor spoke about Lithuanians supposedly growing poorer:
"Despite government claims that the republic’s economy is the largest in the Baltic states, this has not translated into better living standards. According to a sociological survey, Lithuanians say they have money only for necessities and that big-ticket purchases remain out of reach. Some 52% of the country’s residents agree with this statement. One-fifth of the population considers its financial situation very poor. More than half of those who see themselves as middle class believe they are already losing that status because their incomes are falling.
The anchor cited findings from a survey conducted among Lithuanian residents in June 2025 at the request of the financial institution Swedbank. According to the survey, just over half of respondents in Lithuania did indeed say their income is only enough to cover basic expenses. But when it comes to big purchases, the answer was not what the newscast claimed: they are not out of reach, people simply have to save up for them.
Most respondents who see themselves as middle class do not believe they are losing that status, contrary to what the anchor said. On the contrary, over the past year more Lithuanians have begun to see themselves in this category: 55% of respondents say so now, compared with 51% in 2024.
Not one-fifth of the population, as CTV claimed, but only 6% describe themselves as very poor. Over the past year, that share has fallen by 2 percentage points. Roughly one-third of Lithuanians place themselves in a below-middle-class but not yet poor group.
Another public opinion poll was conducted in September–October 2025 at the request of LRT. But that survey, too, offers no evidence that one-fifth of Lithuania’s population considers its financial situation very poor. Only 3% say they are that badly off — they do not have enough even for food. One in six described their family’s financial situation as simply poor: there is enough for groceries, but clothing is already a stretch. Nearly one in two said they can cover all essentials, although they have to tighten their belts for big purchases. One-third of respondents described their financial situation as good — they can easily afford almost everything except very big-ticket items such as real estate.
This fake is the sixth about Lithuania in December alone that the Weekly Top Fake team has debunked. For example, that same CTV channel compared the Belarusian and Lithuanian pension systems, coming down against the latter but failing to get the details right. And on the talk show “Budni” on SB TV and Alfa Radio, they repeated Lukashenko’s false claim that at least 30% of Lithuania’s budget was made up of Belarusian cargo revenues.