Lithuania holds closed-door security meeting after drone threat triggers air raid alerts

Lithuania’s parliamentary National Security and Defence Committee (NSGK) held a closed session Thursday to assess the country’s response to a drone incursion that triggered air raid warnings across multiple regions a day earlier, LRT reports.

Committee chairman Rimantas Sinkevičius told the ELTA news agency that lawmakers reviewed current and planned measures to strengthen protection of Lithuania’s airspace, cities, and population. Representatives from the Ministry of National Defence, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Security Department attended the non-public meeting.

The alert began Wednesday morning when radar detected an unmanned object with drone-like characteristics near Lithuania’s border. NATO air policing jets were scrambled, Vilnius Airport temporarily closed, and train operations in the Vilnius region suspended. Authorities declared an air threat in the districts of Ignalina, Utena, Švenčionys, and Zarasai before extending the warning to the entire Vilnius region at 10:26 AM. The alert was lifted by 10:51 AM, with no reports of a downed drone in Lithuanian territory.

Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre, confirmed the drone crossed into Lithuania around 9:40 AM but vanished from radar near Merkine at approximately 11:09 AM. Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė later stated the public warning system “functioned properly” and pledged more proactive communication on potential threats.

Police reported no confirmed crashes or debris from the drone, which Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas said had traversed all zones where air threat alerts were issued.