Lithuania warns against deliberate misuse of its airspace for drone operations

Lithuania has not ruled out the possibility that its airspace could be intentionally exploited for drone operations linked to the war in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys told BNS on Tuesday.

Speaking to the Baltic News Service (BNS), Budrys said the country’s firm warning to third parties against using Lithuanian airspace for military operations stems from growing suspicions that such violations may be deliberate. “The likelihood of incidents tied to military actions—both those conducted by Ukraine against Russia and Russian strikes on Ukrainian targets—has increased,” he stated.

The minister cited repeated drone incidents in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and particularly Romania—where such cases outnumber those in all other affected countries combined—as evidence that “military actions can directly spill over our borders, including operations that involve the airspace of neighbouring states.”

Budrys did not explicitly confirm whether the warning was directed at Ukraine, which has escalated drone attacks deep into Russian territory. “The position we’ve articulated doesn’t necessarily require a specific addressee by name,” he said. “It’s Lithuania’s official stance, recorded and known.”

President Gitanas Nausėda separately issued a stern warning on Wednesday, cautioning “warring parties in Europe” against using Lithuanian territory for drone overflights, which he called a “flagrant violation of sovereignty and international law.” His remarks follow Russian accusations that Baltic states have enabled Ukrainian drones to transit their airspace for strikes on Russian energy and military infrastructure—a claim NATO officials dismiss, asserting that Ukrainian drones reach the region only after being diverted by Russian electronic warfare.