Lithuania warns of more drone incidents as Baltic security tensions rise

Lithuania’s Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas has warned that there is a “high possibility” of further unmanned aerial incidents across the Baltic region, as repeated drone incursions continue to disrupt airspace and trigger security alerts, Euronews reports.

The remarks come as the Baltics have been shaken by at least six actual or suspected drone-related incidents this month. Just a day after Vilnius was brought to a standstill by a drone incursion, Kaunas said Europe must adapt to what he described as a rapidly evolving security environment.

“This is the new reality of what the Baltic states face,” he said in exclusive comments to the Europe Today news programme. “We need to adapt because the possibility of repeated similar scenarios is very high.”

On May 20 at around 10:00 a.m., residents of Vilnius were instructed to seek immediate shelter due to drone activity near the border with Belarus. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė were relocated to an underground bunker while authorities worked to determine the origin of the drone and assess its potential impact.

“Based on the parameters we saw, it’s most likely either a combat drone or a drone designed to deceive systems and lure targets,” said Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center, noting that it remained unclear whether the device carried a warhead.

The drone’s origin has not been confirmed, though officials have said that a number of Ukrainian drones have recently entered European airspace amid Russian GPS jamming operations.

Kaunas said NATO air policing assets were activated in response to the incident. “A NATO air police mission was activated, so two Portuguese fighter jets surrounded and intercepted the drone,” he said. “It’s important to emphasise actually how crucial that NATO air police mission is in the Baltic states.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised the alliance’s response, saying in Brussels that the incidents had been met with “a calm, decisive and proportionate response.”

Although the latest suspected incursion lasted around one hour, it marked the first major alert in a European Union and NATO capital since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, prompting residents and officials to take shelter.

Lithuanian authorities said public reaction remained largely calm. “People were alerted about the need to go to their shelters, and here no panic was detected, everyone was calm,” Kaunas said. However, he acknowledged concerns raised by residents, adding: “We need to increase and enhance our airspace defence.”

“We are investing a lot in our air defence capabilities with new radars are coming,” he added.

Lithuanian President Nausėda said in a post on X that “the security of the Baltic States is the security of Europe,” while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged that the EU would respond to the incursions with “unity and strength.”

By Vafa Guliyeva