Overview

• On August 5–6, Acting Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys and Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė reached out to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte by letter and phone to press for immediate rotational air defense reinforcements along the eastern flank.
• Their appeal follows two Gerbera drones crossing into Lithuania from Belarus on July 10 and July 28, the latter carrying a two-kilogram warhead that crashed near the Gaižiūnai training ground.
• Lithuanian officials describe the incursions as spillover from Russia’s war in Ukraine and note that other NATO members have recently faced similar low-altitude drone violations.
• NATO said it is closely monitoring the situation and that Supreme Allied Commander Europe General James Grynkewich has the authority to enact necessary counter-drone and radar measures.
• Lithuania is urging rapid deployment of additional missile batteries, expanded radar coverage and experimental counter-UAV systems to shore up its eastern airspace defenses.