Europe is at turning point, must be ready for long-term strategic confrontation - Nauseda

VILNIUS - Europe should be prepared for a long-term strategic confrontation with Russia as the latter has no intention of ending its aggression in Ukraine, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda says.

This is why the European Union should pay close attention to defending its eastern flank and strengthening security, the Lithuanian leader said on Tuesday in Helsinki while attending the Eastern Flank Summit.

"Europe is at a turning point. As we see, Russia is not willing to stop its war of aggression against Ukraine, escalating further on European soil, including through its proxy Belarus, which is now instrumentalizing smugglers' network with weather balloons, aiming to disrupt the activities of civil aviation in Lithuania and pose threats to civilians," Nauseda told a press conference today.

"We must be prepared for a long-term strategic confrontation that will define our security for many years and even decades to come. Today our response must be swift and decisive. Protecting the EU’s eastern border must be our top priority, including in the next Multiannual Financial Framework," he underlined.

Nauseda attended the meeting along the leaders of Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Sweden, Bulgaria and Romania. During the meeting, Warsaw and Helsinki announced that they were taking up leadership in implementing the Eastern Flank Watch initiative.

Airspace security issues became more pressing for Lithuania last summer when two Russian drones flew into the country's territory, one of which was carrying explosives, and later Russian fighter jets violated Lithuanian airspace, and Vilnius Airport has been closed several times in recent months due to the threat of smuggling balloons from Belarus.

Lithuanian politicians call these balloon incursions a hybrid attack by Minsk.