European Airports Close Temporarily After Further Drone, Balloon Sightings

Two airports in Europe were forced to temporarily close because of separate drone and balloon sightings in recent days, the latest disruptive incursions into European airspace in recent months.

Lithuania’s Vilnius Airport on Nov. 24 said in a statement that it had resumed operations after having to close its airspace twice overnight because of balloon sightings.

Temporary air restrictions were put in place at 6:55 p.m. local time on Nov. 23 because of “navigation markers, typical for balloons,” moving in the direction of Vilnius Airport. The restrictions were lifted at about 12:25 a.m. on Nov. 24.

A little more than an hour later, at 1:40 a.m., temporary airspace restrictions were again imposed over Vilnius Airport because of suspected balloons. The skies reopened at about 3:25 a.m.

In the Netherlands, civilian and military air traffic moving in and out of Eindhoven Airport was suspended on the evening of Nov. 22 because of sightings of “multiple drones,” Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans confirmed in posts on X. Flight operations resumed hours later.

Brekelmans said that the Ministry of Defence had taken responsive measures but for security reasons would not provide further details.

“Disruption of air traffic with drones is unacceptable. So we are taking action against it,” the minister said.

Smuggler Balloons

Lithuania in the past had blamed smugglers based in Belarus who use meteorological balloons to transport illicit cigarettes across the border for the previous closures of Vilnius Airport.

Last month, Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene suggested that Minsk was not doing enough to stop the criminal activity originating from its country, and on Oct. 27, she closed the border with Belarus.

“This is how we send a signal to Belarus and say that no hybrid attack will be tolerated here, and we will take all the strictest measures to stop such attacks,” Ruginiene said at the time.

Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov called the move to shut the border a provocation and suggested that Vilnius should focus its attention on “organized gangs of Lithuanians who use smuggling for profit.”

“These balloons with smuggled cigarettes have been flying there for ages,” Ryzhenkov said. “But, most interestingly, we haven’t received any diplomatic notes.”

Last week, Lithuania reopened its checkpoints, as did Poland, which had closed its own border with Belarus in solidarity with Vilnius.

Drone Sightings

Protecting NATO airspace has become a major point of focus for European nations in recent months, particularly along the defense alliance’s eastern flank.

The uptick in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) sightings began on Sept. 9, when Poland shot down drones that breached its airspace, prompting NATO to reinforce its eastern defenses and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to call for a drone wall.

Similar incidents followed later in September, including Russian aircraft’s alleged entrance into Estonian airspace and drone sightings over Denmark.

UAV sightings caused other incidents of flight groundings in Sweden and Belgium earlier this month.

While European officials have blamed some of the incursions on Russia, Moscow has denied connection to the incidents.

In October, the European Commission stated that Europe must prepare to combat new forms of warfare, including sabotage of undersea cables, cyberattacks, and drone incursions.

European Drone Defense Initiative

On Oct. 16, the European Commission unveiled proposals for four flagship defense projects, including a drone wall and fortification of Europe’s eastern border, as part of measures to boost defense by 2030.

The European Drone Defense Initiative—which von der Leyen and others have referred to in the past as a “drone wall”—is envisaged as having a 360-degree approach, “as a multilayered, technologically advanced system with interoperable counter-drone capabilities” for detection, tracking, and neutralization, according to the European Commission.

The Eastern Flank Watch, another of the proposed defense projects, will “integrate the air defence and counter-drone systems with a set of ground defence systems with maritime security in the Baltic and Black Seas and systems for increased situational awareness, as well as internal security and border management,” the commission said.

If the European Council decides to endorse the proposals, the drone wall could be fully functional by the end of 2027, and the eastern flank defenses would be expected to be functional by the end of 2028.

Reuters contributed to this report.