Speaker of Lithuania's Seimas: It's time to shift from air policing to air defense

Lithuanian Parliament Speaker Juozas Olekas said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"We are part of NATO and we are discussing among ourselves that we should change the current situation in the Baltic states, where we have air policing: they operate quite actively but often arrive only after some time to control the airspace. Our goal is to shift from air policing to air defence and, in some cases, after decision-making, these violators can be intercepted or even shot down," Olekas said.

Commenting on the fourth suspension this week of Vilnius airport's operations due to meteorological balloons launched from Belarusian territory, the Seimas speaker suggested there are several different options to prevent such provocations.

"One is to establish better control over these balloons and also to have the kinetic capability to shoot them down. Another option could be to close the border or possibly suspend train transit through Lithuania, because these balloons pose a danger," Olekas said.

He added that during meetings with the President, the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and the Prime Minister, they had discussed the possibilities of creating joint ventures and cooperation among different drone and systems manufacturers to prevent airspace violations in various regions of Europe, not just in Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, the new Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania arrived in Ukraine on his first official visit.