Lithuanian โคForeignโค Minister Urges NATO Response to Belarusianโฃ Hybrid Attack
Lithuanian โขForeign โคMinister Kฤstutis budrys has emphasizedโค to Dutch Prime minister mark Rutte that actionsโ originating โคfrom โฃBelarus haveโฃ posed aโข threat to civil aviation in Lithuania and across Europeโ since October.โค Budrys statedโ that the โฃBelarusian authorities are โnot โคpreventing theseโค actions and areโข deliberately targeting Vilniusโค airport with โขcontraband balloons, disrupting its operations.
“this is an intentional hybrid attack thatโ poses a threatโค not only to the security of Lithuania, but toโ the security of the entire region,” Budrys saeid, โฃas reported. “The Belarusian regime purposefully and deliberately disrupts the activities ofโ civil aviation, causes confusion โคin our societies, blackmails and spreadsโค disinformation. โฃNATO’s response to these actions is necessary.”
During the conversation, Budrysโ highlightedโข Lithuania’sโค request, โsubmittedโค in early November,โข for a NATO team โto counter hybrid โthreats, and stressed the urgency ofโ its deployment. he alsoโข invited allies to โLithuania to test and โขadapt technical measures โคto combatโข airspace violations.
The hybrid attack was alsoโค a key โtopicโ at theโค NATO foreign ministers’โค meeting held in Brussels on Wednesday.
Recent months have seen repeated disruptions to Vilnius airport’s operationsโ due to the threat posed by the smuggled balloons.Theโฃ airport’s airspace was closed Wednesday night,โ followingโค a particularlyโ intense series ofโ incidents over the weekend.
in responseโ to theโ ongoing incidents, the Lithuanian government decided to โclose its border with Belarus atโฃ the end โคof โฃOctober.While the border was โtemporarily reopened to addressโ the situation of carriers strandedโข in Belarus, โthe Belarusian regime is currently preventing their return to Lithuania,โข prompting consideration ofโ aโข protest โคby the carriers.
The situation hasโ been repeatedly discussed within Lithuania, including by the National Security Commission (NSK), and at the international level.
