European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the spate of recent drone incursions into the airspace of European Union (EU) countries over the past few weeks are "not isolated incidents," as Baltic leaders and EU officials caution that hybrid threats along Europe’s eastern border are intensifying.
"This is a deliberate strategy from Russia trying to destabilise our democratic societies," she said, standing alongside Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian heads of state at a press conference in the Vilnius on Tuesday. "When Baltic states are being tested, Europe as a whole is being tested," she said.
The EU chief was in the Baltic region to reaffirm the bloc's support for the trio of countries as they have been repeatedly impacted by incursions in recent weeks, with at least six recorded since the beginning of May.
"This is the reality on Europe's eastern border in 2026," von der Leyen said, adding, "Today it's here, tomorrow it will be elsewhere along the eastern border."
Speaking alongside the European Commission president at the press conference, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda conceded the skies above the Baltic states "are not sufficiently secure".
