Lithuanian speaker of parliament calls for more transparent drone incident reporting

Lithuania’s institutions should more boldly inform the public about drones entering the country’s airspace, Seimas (parliament) Speaker Juozas Olekas said Monday, as reported by public broadcaster LRT.

Olekas urged authorities to improve coordination and communication, arguing that excessive caution in confirming drone sightings delays critical public warnings. “Perhaps there’s too much focus on precisely determining whether an airspace violator is definitely a drone. By the time it’s confirmed, the alert loses relevance,” he told lawmakers.

The speaker acknowledged potential concerns over misidentification but stressed that immediate, proactive alerts—even if preliminary—would better protect citizens. “People should be warned that an unidentified object is moving in a certain area, prompting them to take cover and observe,” he said, citing past incidents where drones were filmed by the public but officials hesitated to confirm their presence until physical evidence was found.

Olekas noted ongoing investments in drone detection systems by the Ministry of National Defence, including upgrades to radar capabilities originally designed for larger threats like missiles or aircraft. “We’re moving from a very low baseline,” he said, adding that new equipment would enable earlier detection and either interception or public warnings. “These systems will have an effect—we’ll see [drones] more clearly and can act accordingly.”

His comments follow a weekend incident in Samanė village, Utena district, where residents reported a downed drone later identified as Ukrainian in origin. Authorities confirmed it carried explosives, which were neutralised on-site. In March, a similar Ukrainian military drone crashed near Varėna, close to the Belarusian border, after reportedly being disrupted by Russian electronic warfare during a mission targeting Russia.

Such incidents have grown more frequent in the Baltic Sea region in recent months.