Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas on Tuesday dismissed Belarus’ claim that a drone flew from Lithuania into Belarus, calling the allegation “fake news”.
“We are not responding to this specifically, we are not paying any special attention to it because it is fake news […] and interpretations from an unfriendly country, and there is probably no point in responding to all of them,” Kaunas told reporters at the Seimas.
His comments came a day after Minsk lodged an official protest with Vilnius over what it said was a drone that entered Belarusian airspace in late November. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said the device flew from Lithuania’s Lazdijai District and fell near the city of Grodno on November 30.
Kaunas denied that Lithuania had recorded any such border incursion.
Russia’s state-run news agency TASS carried the Belarusian claim on Monday, citing the Belarusian Foreign Ministry. The ministry said it summoned Lithuania’s chargé d’affaires, Erikas Vilkanecas, on December 1 and handed him a protest note over the alleged violation of Belarus’ state border.
Minsk demanded that Lithuania “immediately provide exhaustive information on the circumstances of this incident, including the objectives of the drone launch and its operator”, and called for a thorough investigation.
Darius Buta, a spokesperson for Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre, declined to comment on whether an airspace violation occurred, telling BNS that “this is not the first time that the Belarusian regime has fabricated various stories and made accusations against Western countries and Lithuania”.
Tensions between the neighbours have been heightened in recent months. Balloons used by cigarette smugglers in Belarus have disrupted operations at Vilnius Airport and once forced Kaunas Airport to temporarily suspend flights. After Lithuania restricted the operation of several border crossing points with Belarus, Minsk responded by blocking trucks registered in Lithuania from returning to the country.
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