On Monday, Lithuania’s foreign ministry released some very audacious news. They determined that the decision to close their border with Belarus, due to the “constant violations” of their airspace. This announcement is a welcome action following many recent episodes. Dozens of these helium balloons have been crossing into Lithuanian airspace from Belarus. This development highlights rising tensions between the two immediate neighbors and indicates deeper fears with respect to security threats in the region.
Inga Ruginienė, Lithuania’s acting prime minister, called for a “common, firm reaction” to these airspace breaches. She remarked, “Autocrats are once again testing the resilience of the European Union and NATO against hybrid threats.” This declaration reflects the increasing recognition of external pressures on European nations in light of recent developments.
This tension then exploded on the international scene when, immediately following Lithuania’s announcement of their own defense assistance, Russian drones crossed into Romanian airspace. His response was to launch Bucharest’s fighter jets to counter the incursions. Russia claims the drones were not deliberately encroaching into Polish airspace. They point to the possibility that Ukrainian electronic jamming redirected the drones. This is an unprecedented moment. It’s the first direct action NATO has taken since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, marking a significant escalation.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, referred to these airspace violations as “a hybrid threat.” She condemned them as tactics of “destabilization” and “provocation.” The mood is one of alarm across Europe. The sudden, unprovoked drone and aircraft incursions over NATO airspace in the past week have all of us on edge.
Darius Buta, a senior adviser at Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre, told the Associated Press that … He showcased that Belarusian smugglers have begun to utilize balloons more often to smuggle cigarettes into the European Union. Even aside from these security and criminality issues, this tactic is abhorrent.
On September 9, Poland acted swiftly by downing the Russian drones that had violated its airspace. The alliance recently declared its mission “Eastern Sentry.” The latter plan seeks to deepen the European Union’s influence in Eastern Europe and eastward, against threats they perceive as having arisen from Russia.
Yet already in mid-2021, Belarus’ foreign ministry expressed fierce opposition over Lithuania’s potential border closure. They claimed to have “submitted Lithuania a protest note” regarding the decision. They emphasized that such actions “violate citizens’ rights and freedom of movement principles.”
European leaders have been advocating for greater pressure to be brought to bear on Moscow. They hope to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin negotiations to end the nearly three-year war in Ukraine. Although Russia has denied that any of its fighters ever entered NATO airspace, the alliance says it has the radar data to prove it did.
