On Thursday 18 December, the European Parliament strongly condemned the ongoing hybrid attacks by Belarus against Lithuania. On the same day, on his arrival at the European Council, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda explained that 600 weather balloons had crossed the Lithuanian border since the beginning of October, affecting more than 50,000 air passengers.
In the resolution they adopted (438 votes in favour, 37 against and 48 abstentions), MEPs demand that Belarus immediately cease all hybrid attacks against Lithuania and immediately release all European hauliers and their property held in Belarus.
Welcoming the recent adoption of a new sanctions criterion covering hybrid attacks against Member States, the European Parliament calls on the Council to adopt additional targeted sanctions against those involved in the production and deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles in Belarus and in all other hybrid operations targeting critical infrastructure, economic activities and democratic institutions. MEPs are also calling on the Council to take further sectoral measures against the country.
The European Parliament also calls for deeper cooperation between the EU and NATO on airspace security and action to counter hybrid threats, to strengthen airspace surveillance and counter-drone capabilities, to improve intelligence sharing and to increase investment in security and critical infrastructure on the EU’s eastern borders.
See the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/k2o (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)