State Border Guard Service via AP

Seeking Extended Powers For The Army

VILNIUS, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Lithuania’s Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said on Monday her country will begin to shoot down smuggler balloons crossing the border from Belarus, which have repeatedly interrupted the Baltic nation’s air traffic.

Lithuania closed Vilnius Airport four times last week after balloons entered its airspace, and each time temporarily shut its Belarus border crossings in response to the incidents.

Lithuania has said balloons are sent by smugglers transporting contraband cigarettes from Belarus into the EU, but it also blames Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, for not stopping the practice.

There was no immediate comment from Belarus.

Ruginiene called the incidents “hybrid attacks” and said the Belarus border crossings will be closed except for travel by diplomats and by European Union citizens leaving the neighbouring country.

“Today we have decided to take the strictest measures. There is no other way,” Ruginiene told a press conference, adding that NATO member Lithuania may also discuss invoking NATO article 4 security consultations.

European aviation has repeatedly been thrown into chaos in recent weeks by drone sightings and other air incursions, including at airports in Copenhagen, Munich and the Baltic region.

On Thursday, Lithuania said two Russian military aircraft had entered its airspace for about 18 seconds, prompting a formal protest and a reaction from NATO forces, while Russia denied the incident.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said recent airspace violations should not be regarded as isolated incidents.

“These are calculated provocations designed to destabilize, distract (and) test NATO’s resolve,” he said on social media X.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; Additional reporting by Moscow bureau; Writing by Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Hugh Lawson)

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Russian military planes briefly violated Lithuania’s airspace Thursday evening, the Lithuanian president said, condemning what he called a blatant breach of the territorial integrity of his European Union and NATO-member country.

Lithuania’s foreign ministry planned to summon Russian Embassy representatives in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius to protest the violation, President Gitanas Nausėda said in a post on the social media platform X.

“This is a blatant breach of international law and territorial integrity of Lithuania,” Nausėda wrote on X. “Once again, it confirms the importance of strengthening European air defence readiness.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, rejected the Lithuanian claim that Russian fighter jets had intruded into its airspace.

It said in a statement that Su-30 fighter jets on Thursday conducted training flights over the Kaliningrad region in strict compliance with the rules.

“The aircraft did not deviate from their flight route or violate the borders of other states, as confirmed by objective monitoring means,” the ministry said.

Some leaders have accused Putin of waging a hybrid war in Europe. Moscow denies probing NATO’s defenses.

The Lithuanian armed forces said in a statement that about 6 p.m. local time on Thursday, two Russian military aircraft flew into Lithuanian airspace for about 700 meters (765 yards), The SU-30 aircraft and IL-78 refueling aircraft flew away after roughly 18 seconds.

The Lithuanian armed forces believe the military planes might have been conducting refueling exercises in the neighboring Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Two Spanish fighter jets, which had been doing NATO air policing missions, were scrambled and flew out to the area.

Earlier on Thursday, Nausėda attended a summit at the European Council building in Brussels where EU leaders endorsed a plan to ensure that Europe can defend itself against an outside attack by the end of the decade. The plan is dubbed Readiness 2030.