Lithuania briefs EU, Nato allies about drone incident, minister says
Meanwhile, Lithuanian defence minister Kęstutis Budrys said he informed Nato allies about last night’s drone incident, with discussions now ongoing on how to strengthen the alliance’s eastern flank.
He said Lithuania will be “requesting discussions on these topics both in the EU and Nato, because it is obvious that we all still have a lot of homework to do,” Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reported.
The drone was shot down by Italian fighter jets taking part in a Nato mission, Italy’s defence ministry confirmed.
Key events
Vilnius airport hit by delays after brief disruption caused by ‘unidentified object’
Separately, Vilnius airport was forced to temporarily suspend its operations this morning after another “unidentified object” was reported in its vicinity.
The 30-minutes disruption resulted in delays to flights to/from Copenhagen, Tel Aviv, Venice, and Warsaw, among others, LRT said.
It has since resumed normal service.
We are getting a bit more detail about the drone incident in Lithuania (10:25).
A drone shot down over its territory last night may have strayed off course, according to presidential security adviser Deividas Matulionis, public broadcaster LRT reported.
The key question of whether its incursion into Lithuanian airspace was intentional or not will be part of an investigation.
But Lithuania’s State Defence Council will meet on Wednesday to review the country’s air defence setup, he said.
Separately, defence minister Robertas Kaunas said the drone was downed near a pumped-storage hydroelectric plant, part of Lithuania’s critical infrastructure.
Swedish vote count may not be completed until Thursday, authorities say
I am also keeping an eye on the latest from Sweden, and it looks like we may have to wait a bit longer for the final results of the parliamentary election.
The Swedish election authority said it was expecting a larger than usual number of late-arriving votes this year – potentially around 300,000 – and so the count may not be fully completed until Thursday, Swedish broadcaster SVT reported.
With 95% votes counted, the left-leaning opposition bloc leads with 176 seats in the new parliament to the government’s 173, with just 32,000 votes separating the two blocs.
Lithuania briefs EU, Nato allies about drone incident, minister says
Meanwhile, Lithuanian defence minister Kęstutis Budrys said he informed Nato allies about last night’s drone incident, with discussions now ongoing on how to strengthen the alliance’s eastern flank.
He said Lithuania will be “requesting discussions on these topics both in the EU and Nato, because it is obvious that we all still have a lot of homework to do,” Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reported.
The drone was shot down by Italian fighter jets taking part in a Nato mission, Italy’s defence ministry confirmed.
Suspected sabotage disrupts Dutch trains
Separately, Dutch authorities are investigating a major outage that affected parts of the country’s railway system, suspecting a possible sabotage after objects were placed on tracks.
The objects caused failures across the network, affecting several level crossings which disrupted road traffic, Dutch rail infrastructure operator Pro Rail said in a statement.
It explained that as a result, “our computer system identifies a section of track as occupied, even though there is no train present.”
“Because safety always comes first, signals automatically turn red. As a result, trains must stop or slow down. Level crossings can also malfunction,” it said.
It did not comment on who could be behind the incident.
Danish incident further proof of Russia’s ‘aggressive’ behaviour, former Danish defence minister warns
Former Danish defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen warned that the frigate incident was a further proof of Russia’s “extremely aggressive” behaviour seeking to “provoke potential conflicts.”
“We should be very aware of that,” he said in comments reported by Danish broadcaster DR.
Defence minister Jeppe Bruus called an all-party meeting on the incident this morning to give political leaders a more detailed read on what happened, DR said.
Morning opening: Russia-attributed security incidents intensify across Europe
Jakub Krupa
Denmark has summoned Russia’s ambassador after a Russian warship fired two emergency flares at a Danish army’s helicopter in the Baltic Sea in the latest of incidents attributed to Moscow.
The incident took place during what Denmark said was “a routine” monitoring of the frigate.
“Reckless action from Russia towards Danish military during a routine overflight yesterday. Russian actions are meant to intimidate and divide. They will not succeed. We will not waver,” prime minister Mette Frederiksen said.
Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the frigate’s behaviour was “completely unacceptable.”
The incident took place amid worsening security situation in Europe.
Separately, Nato fighter jets stationed on the alliance’s eastern flank shot down a drone – believed to be flying from Belarus – over Lithuania last night.
“With Russia intensifying its aggression against Ukraine, such readiness is vital for our region,” Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nausėda said.
Meanwhile, Poland discovered remains of a suspected Russian drone near its Baltic Sea coast, just a day after a Russian drone hit a train on Ukraine’s border with Poland on Sunday.
It’s Tuesday, 15 September 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
