The draft statement regarding the air defense issue has been stalled since Tuesday morning after Lithuania initiated measures against balloon incursions, with hopes that Budapest will eventually relent. These balloons, approximately the size of a large car and reportedly used for smuggling cigarettes, have raised aviation safety concerns and prompted intelligence agencies to investigate the reasons for the increase in such incidents. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys highlighted the necessity for the EU to enhance joint preparedness and impose new sanctions on Belarus.
On Monday, Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė announced the indefinite closure of the country’s border with Belarus following the incursions. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko denied any misconduct, dismissing Lithuania’s reaction as “petty.”
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has regularly obstructed EU actions against Russia, resisting further energy-related sanctions and vetoing Ukraine’s EU membership application. In August, Hungary declined to join a statement condemning Russian attacks on Ukraine, including one that damaged the EU’s Kyiv office, leading to the statement’s release by the other 26 member states. The EU representations of Hungary and Lithuania did not provide comments on the situation.
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