Sanction Belarus to avoid 'spiral of escalation' after balloon incursions, Lithuanian FM tells EU

Published connected 28/10/2025 - 15:37 GMT+1 •Updated 15:46

Lithuania’s overseas curate Kęstutis Budrys has called connected the European Union to deepen its sanctions against Belarus aft a bid of cigarette-smuggling balloon incursions into the country's airspace.

"We privation the sanctions authorities (of the EU) to beryllium strengthened against Belarus," Budrys told Euronews' interrogation programme ''12 minutes with...' connected Tuesday, adding that Brussels should determination to specifically people Belarus' aviation and banking sectors.

He spoke hours aft Lithuania temporarily closed its 680 km borderline with Belarus and ordered its subject to sprout down intruding objects. It came aft a raft of balloon incursions forced the repeated closures of Lithuanian airports past week, affecting astatine slightest 175 flights and 27,000 passengers.

"The Belarusian authorities has to consciousness the consequences of the activites that they do. Otherwise time they volition instrumentality thing other and they volition instrumentalise it and weaponise it," Budrys explained.

"If we cannot deter it past we are moving done a spiral of escalation."

Belarus, led by Putin state Aliaksandr Lukashenka, already faces EU sanctions successful effect to its autocratic drift and complicity successful Russia's warfare of aggression against Ukraine.

Lithuania sees the smuggler balloons arsenic a caller maneuver successful the Kremlin’s hybrid warfare against the West, successful which Belarus has provided a captious staging ground. The state besides stands accused ofpushing thousands of would-be asylum seekers crossed the Polish and Lithuanian borders successful a bid to sow chaos and deepen divides.

Despite saying that caller bid of balloon incursions into Lithuania's airspace should beryllium considered portion of the "hybrid war" connected Europe's eastbound flank, Budrys declined to straight property the incidents to the Kremlin astatine this stage, preferring to constituent the digit astatine the Belarusian regime.

"We spot that these are the actions of the Belarusian authorities close now," helium explained. "Of people it plays into the hands of Russia and the consequences are the aforesaid arsenic those they are trying to enforce with their GRU (Russian concealed service) operations successful our region."

He besides called connected the EU to determination swiftly with its scope of defence initiatives to support the eastbound flank from specified incursions, contempt the divisionsthat person emerged implicit the standard and velocity of specified efforts. Frontline Baltic states are amongst the biggest proponents of the plans.

The balloons are the latest successful a bid of provocations attributed to the Kremlin and its proxies successful caller weeks, with a crisp uptick successful drone sightings crossed Europe’s eastbound and deeper wrong the continent, including Denmark and Germany.

Last Thursday, Lithuania besides documented the little incursion of 2 Russian subject aircrafts into its airspace from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. Two Spanish Eurofighter Typhoon jets from the NATO Baltic Air Police were scrambled successful response.