Kęstutis Budrys urges Brussels to impose additional sanctions on Minsk’s banking and aviation sectors to curb Lukashenka’s “cross-border crime.”
The Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Kęstutis Budrys, has urged the European Union to intensify its sanctions against Belarus following multiple balloon incursions smuggling cigarettes across the country’s airspace.
“The expectation is not just for solidarity (…) but for the EU’s sanctions regime to be reinforced against Belarus,” Budrys stated during his appearance on Euronews’ interview show «12 minutes with…» on Tuesday, emphasizing the need to specifically target Minsk’s banking and aviation sectors.
This declaration came mere hours after Lithuania temporarily shut its 680 km border with Belarus and authorized its armed forces to down the intruding balloons.
Last week, several balloon incursions led to recurrent closures of Lithuanian airports, disrupting no fewer than 175 flights and impacting 27,000 passengers.
“The Belarusian administration must experience repercussions for their actions. Failing that, they will escalate tactics, using and weaponizing new methods,” Budrys clarified.
“If deterrence fails (…) we risk entering a cycle of escalation.”
Earlier on Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed “full solidarity” with Lithuania but stopped short of outlining concrete measures against Belarus.
Belarus, under the leadership of Putin ally Aliaksandr Lukashenka, already faces EU sanctions due to its authoritarian tendencies and collaboration in Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine.
Recently, the country achieved a relaxation of US sanctions following the release of political detainees, an act interpreted as signaling rapprochement with the Trump administration.
Lithuania views the smuggling balloons as part of a hybrid warfare campaign aimed at destabilizing the nation. Belarus has been accused previously of facilitating hybrid warfare by pushing thousands of asylum seekers into Poland and Lithuania, aiming to create disorder and deepen divisions.
However, Budrys refrained from directly linking these incidents to the Kremlin at this point, instead attributing responsibility to the Belarusian regime.
“Currently, these actions are attributed to the Belarusian regime,” he explained. “Naturally, this benefits Russia, and the consequences mirror those imposed by Russia’s GRU secret service operations in our region.”
‘The threat will penetrate deeper into Europe’
The balloon incursions add to a recent surge of provocations the West attributes to the Kremlin and its proxies, with a notable increase in drone activity across Eastern Europe and further into the continent, including countries such as Denmark, Belgium, and Germany.
Minister Budrys called for a prompt EU response through various defence mechanisms to secure the eastern border against such breaches, despite divisions over the scale and pace of these efforts.
The European Commission recently unveiled new initiatives to tackle the emerging threats: the Eastern Flank Watch and the European Drone Defence Initiative.
While frontline Baltic states strongly support these plans, some larger EU members express reservations about their practicability.
“If anyone questions the need to invest here (on the eastern flank), they will eventually face the repercussions on their own soil,” Budrys warned, implicitly addressing Western European nations. “Because the threat will extend further into Europe (…) If deterrence fails upfront, it will penetrate internally.”
“Thus, it is imperative to invest here and develop resilience that could later be replicated across continental Europe.”
Additionally, on the previous Thursday, Lithuania reported a brief incursion by two Russian military aircraft from the Kaliningrad exclave into its airspace, prompting a response by two Spanish Eurofighter Typhoon jets operating as part of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission.