Europe Today: Drones, bunkers and political turmoil: what’s going on in Lithuania?

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Europe Today: Drones, bunkers and political turmoil: what’s going on in Lithuania?  A drone incursion into Lithuania on Wednesday brought the capital to a standstill and forced the country’s leaders to shelter in a bunker. Ursula von der Leyen has said Europe will respond with “unity and strength”. We speak to Lithuania’s defence minister, Robertas Kaunas.  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/05/21/europe-today-drones-bunkers-and-political-turmoil-whats-going-on-in-lithuania  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:14Good morning, it's Thursday the 21st of May. I'm Maret Gwyn and this is Europe Today, your

00:21morning fix of news and analysis broadcast live from Brussels. On today's show, a drone

00:28incursion into Lithuania on Wednesday brought the capital to a standstill and forced the

00:34country's leaders to shelter in a bunker. The commission boss Ursula von der Leyen has

00:39said Europe will respond with, quote, unity and strength. We'll speak to Lithuania's

00:45defence minister, Robertas Kaunas. And NATO foreign ministers gather in Sweden today,

00:51where US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to further encourage allies to take

00:57responsibility for their own defence. The US has signalled it will reduce the capabilities

01:04it makes available to NATO as it pivots to priorities elsewhere. Also, world leaders have summoned

01:11Israeli envoys after Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gavir shared a video showing

01:18him taunting handcuffed activists from the Gaza-bound aid flotilla. Italy and France have described

01:26the scenes as, quote, intolerable. We'll bring you the details. But first, to our top story this

01:33morning. The Baltics have been rattled by repeated drone incursions in recent weeks, the latest being

01:40an incursion into Lithuania on Wednesday. For more on this story, I'm joined on set by our EU

01:46correspondent, Angela Skujins. Good morning, Angela. First of all, bring us up to speed on what exactly

01:52happened in Lithuania yesterday. Good morning, Madden. So to put it bluntly, the Baltics are on

01:58high alert tenterhooks regarding, as you rightly pointed out, what exactly happened. So at 10am,

02:04civilians received a text message telling them that they should seek shelter immediately with

02:09their families. The airports were ground to a halt as well as civilian traffic. The Prime Minister and

02:15the President were also shuttled to a bunker underground, while officials above ground scrambled to

02:21try and figure out what was going on in their skies. The security incident only lasted for one

02:26hour. At roughly 11am, the alert was lifted. And our general understanding is that a drone entered

02:33Lithuanian airspace from the border along Belarus. But it's also really important to point out that this

02:39is not a freak incident. If we can take a look at this map here, we can see that there

02:43have been at least

02:44six drone incursion or suspected drone incursions since the beginning of May occurring over the skies

02:51of Latvia, Finland, Lithuania, as well as Estonia. We believe that most of these drones are Ukrainian

02:59in origin, however, have been pushed into European airspace by Moscow GPS jamming.

03:05And given all this, Angela, what happens next? And what's been the reaction from Lithuania?

03:10Yes. So we know that the European Union have been trumpeting for at least a year that according

03:17to national security services, that foreign agents such as Russia could be ready to attack

03:23the continent by 2030. This is why the EU have pumped a whopping 800 billion euros into beefing up the

03:30EU's

03:30defences, particularly that 3,500 kilometre border along the east. The big question here, however,

03:38is whether the EU can stay one step ahead of Moscow. We've seen that they've become incredibly creative

03:44when it comes to sowing panic, creating division within the Baltics, as well as the EU member states

03:50when it comes to supporting Ukraine. I managed to speak with the Lithuanian Defence Minister

03:56Robertus Kaunas this morning. And the first question I asked him was whether Moscow was successful

04:01creating the panic. Yesterday, Lithuania experienced a drone incursion into our airspace,

04:09but our armed forces radars detected the drone's type object, let's say, before it crossed into

04:17Lithuania airspace. So we may be able to detect it earlier. NATO air police mission was activated,

04:26so two Portuguese fighter jets scrimmated to intercept the drone. It's important to emphasize, actually,

04:35how crucial that NATO air police mission is in the Baltic states. And here I would like to express my

04:46sincere appreciation to all NATO countries participating in this mission. People were alerted

04:54about the need to go to the shelters, about the need to go to the shelters, and here no panic

04:59were detected. Everyone were calm. The response, I think, was timely. This is the new, actually,

05:09reality of what Baltic states face. So we need to adapt because possible repeating of similar scenarios

05:18that NATO airspace is very high. Well, NATO eastern flank countries actually facing all NATO eastern

05:25flank countries facing similar accidents. And NATO airspace has been violated multiple times in recent

05:34days. So we managed to react on time correctly, but we need to increase and enhance our airspace defense.

05:46Minister, you mentioned there that there was no panic. However, the Lithuanians that I've spoken to

05:52sound quite emotional recounting the stories of yesterday. How are you going to reassure them that

05:57Lithuania is safe? Lithuania is a member of the NATO alliance. We have a strong commitment from our

06:07allies that we are not alone. And NATO air police mission is here. Additionally, we're investing a lot

06:18in our air defense capabilities. New radars are coming. Part of them are already in Lithuania.

06:24Interceptor drones, air defense experts from Ukraine arriving to Lithuania to help us enhance our

06:34air defense capabilities. But minister, you mentioned you mentioned all of this technology to repel

06:39Russian drones. They're cheap. We know this. But how confident are you that Lithuania can repel

06:46real Russian aggression when and if it comes, we're talking about tanks rolling across the border?

06:53Our investments to our national defense needs is 5.38% of GDP. So it's the highest volume among

07:02all NATO countries. So we are doing our homeworks.

07:09That was Lithuania's Defense Minister Rupertas Kaunas there. Now, the European Commission President

07:14Ursula von der Leyen has vowed a response following the incident. For more, I'm joined on set by our

07:20correspondent, Sasha Vakulina. Good morning, Sasha. First, tell us, what can the EU actually do in

07:26response to this threat? Well, the first thing Brussels tried to do was to reassure the Baltic states

07:32and Lithuania that the EU will stand up and respond and protect them. Let's take a listen,

07:37take a look at what the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had to say. She said Russia's

07:42public threats against our Baltic states are completely unacceptable. Let there be no doubt

07:48a threat against one member state is a threat against our entire union. But Marit, these Russia's

07:55threats towards the Baltic states are not new. They are coming there for years and it is actually

08:00enough to just follow the official Kremlin statements or even Russian state-controlled

08:05media on daily basis, threatening the Baltic states, threatening Brussels, threatening Berlin,

08:11or even London very openly. Also, at the same time, just earlier this week, Russia's foreign intelligence

08:18agency issued open threats to the Baltics under the false claims of them allegedly providing their

08:25airspace for Ukrainian drones. Now, these claims have been categorically denied by both the Baltic states

08:30and Kyiv. And Sasha, it seems that some countries are not only more vulnerable to this, but are also

08:35more prepared than others. Definitely. Some of them have done more of a homework, so to say,

08:41specifically starting from 2022 and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And one of these countries

08:46is Poland. Now, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that these attacks and this incident are part of

08:56coordinated provocation by Moscow. Let's take a listen to what he had to say.

09:05I have warned many months ago and also several weeks ago that the situation could escalate,

09:11not only regarding the Ukrainian-Russian war, but across the entire eastern flank. The Russian-Ukrainian

09:17war and Russia's aggressive policy towards Ukraine and its neighbors could soon lead to

09:22situations requiring a firm response.

09:31Together with Warsaw stock warnings were issued also by Kyiv. Early on the 15th of May, President

09:35Zelensky said that their Ukrainian foreign intelligence also has the information that Russia

09:40is effectively trying to drag Belarus more into its war against Ukraine, but also against possibly other

09:49countries like the Baltic states. Okay, Sasha, thank you so much for that analysis. We're moving on now.

09:56The divisive legacy of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel was under the spotlight this week when she

10:02received an European Order of Merit. But what impression is the current Chancellor Friedrich Merz

10:09making one year after he took the reins? Our Jakob Janis takes a look.

10:16One year into Friedrich Merz's chancellorship the honeymoon is long gone and much of the damage is

10:23self-inflicted. He recently chose the bold strategy of scolding Germany's workforce for taking too many

10:30sick days, dismissing part-time jobs as a lazy lifestyle choice and even telling Germans to look to

10:36Greece to learn how to work hard. A staggering historical plot twist from a leader whose country spent

10:42years lecturing Europe on efficiency, isn't it? Huh, so what went wrong?

10:49A year ago, Merz promised a conservative pro-market renewal, but his center-right and center-left

10:54coalition is paralyzed by internal fighting. Germany's economic recovery has completely stalled,

11:00with growth projections for this year halved to just 0.5%. And voters are furious over high energy costs,

11:08heavy taxes, an upcoming 4 billion euro cut to the public pension system. And internationally,

11:14a public swipe at Donald Trump over Iran backfired badly, with the US president claiming Merz doesn't

11:21know what he's talking about. And with the planned withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany, vital

11:28long-term security agreements look now a bit shaky. And according to the recent survey, Merz is now the most

11:34unpopular democratically elected leader in the world. And a staggering 76% of Germans disapprove of

11:40his performance. But to be fair to Merz, his job isn't easy. His coalition holds a tiny parliamentary

11:48majority of just 12 seats. And with his CDU party dropping to just 23% in the polls, he looks

11:55more and more

11:56isolated, allowing the far-right AFD to take the lead ahead of critical state elections this autumn.

12:03Merz has always been seen as a man of business. He promised the German people he would get the

12:08economy back on track. But so far, he's offering them nothing but economic tough love and longer

12:13working weeks. And if his voters do not see economic results soon, they will send Merz into retirement.

12:20And given his notorious comments about how glad he was to escape the Amazon after last year's climate

12:26summit in Brazil, it is safe to assume he won't be choosing to spend that time off in Berlin.

12:37Jakob Janis reporting there. Now today, NATO foreign ministers are in Sweden for a two-day meeting

12:44ahead of the leader summit in Ankara in July. On the agenda, the urgent need to ramp up the

12:50the production of weapons. Also high on minds is the US decision to cut its commitment to the

12:57alliance, even in wartime. Our correspondent, Shauna Murray, is here with me. Good morning,

13:02Shauna. Good to see you. First, tell us more about what the US is actually announcing and how

13:08it may impact NATO. Indeed. So we know that over the past few weeks, we heard Donald Trump saying he's

13:13removing 5000 troops from Germany. Instead, he cut a brigade that was due to deploy to Poland. So that's not

13:18what this is. He's not removing soldiers per se from NATO territory. You still have around 70,000

13:24or so. What this is, is the United States shrinking the pool of resources available to NATO during a

13:30time of war or an invasion. So essentially within NATO, we have this framework called the NATO force

13:35model that deals with deterrence and defence capabilities, particularly in times of war.

13:40The United States is saying we're taking away some of what can be activated if there was an

13:46invasion. So this is a structural and quite fundamental. Take a listen to J.D. Vance,

13:50the vice president. We're not talking about pulling every single American troop out of Europe.

13:55We're talking about shifting some resources around in a way that maximizes American security.

14:01I don't think that's bad for Europe. That's encouraging Europe to take more ownership.

14:06The United States cannot be the policeman of the world. Now, he's saying that they're shifting it

14:10around, but they actually are reducing it and shrinking what can be available. But I think the

14:15point that he also made there is important is that the European allies have stepped up in

14:19capabilities in these areas. So Mark Rutte, the NATO Secretary General, is saying that we've

14:23engaged with the United States about this. So there won't be capability gaps per se,

14:28but it is a fundamental shift, Marit. And at the same time, Sean, are concerns that the

14:33US has been burning through weapons stockpiles and that could potentially leave gaps for Europe?

14:38Well, the estimation is about a billion dollars a day is being spent on the war in Iran. And what's

14:42happening is the United States is, like you said, expending or burning through very highly

14:46critical munitions, including Patriot air defense missile systems, which are very expensive and

14:51very hard to produce. The knock on effect could be that the Europeans, which are purchasing a lot

14:57of these weapons for use on the battlefield in Ukraine, that they won't be available because

15:01the production can't keep up with the pace of the usage in Iran. And as we see, the Iran war

15:07has not

15:08really shown any signs of abating. So the problem right now, well, right now we know the deliveries

15:13are being made to Ukraine more or less. But within the next few months, if this war continues,

15:18that won't be the case. So here in Sweden today, you'll hear from Mark Rubio, US Secretary of State,

15:22saying that the production needs to be ramped up even more. And before the war in Iran,

15:26it was pretty bad. So it could get far worse. Marit.

15:29Okay, Sean, I will keep an eye out, of course, on that meeting happening in Sweden during the day.

15:34But we're moving on now. The European Union is banning

15:38notification apps which use AI to undress individuals without their consent. Our Europe editor,

15:45Maria Tadeus, spoke to the EU's Commissioner for Tech, Hena Virkunen, and started by asking

15:51her if she had concerns that the move could prompt criticism from the US.

15:57When it comes to that kind of notification apps, we clearly we are banning them in the European Union.

16:03So it's part of our AI act and trial of negotiations. We concluded two weeks ago with the co-legislators

16:09that we decided that we are banning that kind of notification apps in the European Union.

16:14Do you fear any backlash just finally on this from the US as a result of this?

16:18Keeping in mind, however, no one has consented to this.

16:21I think that these are very common concerns globally now when technology is taking a bigger role,

16:27that what kind of risks it's also posing. And many countries are looking towards Europe,

16:31that what kind of measures we are taking here, because with our Digital Services Act,

16:35with our Digital Markets Act, and with our AI act, we have really also set the global benchmark,

16:40that we want that we have a digital environment which is safe and fair and democratic. And we are

16:45enforcing these rules. And at the same time, we want to encourage innovations and investments in this

16:50area. But we want that people can trust those technologies.

16:55And you can see Maria's full interview with Commissioner Virkunen on Euronews.com.

17:00But now several European countries have expressed outrage after Israel's national security minister,

17:07Itamar Ben-Gavir, shared a video showing him taunting activists from an aid flotilla headed for Gaza,

17:15among them European citizens. Georgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister, has reacted. She said,

17:22it is intolerable that these protesters, among whom there are many Italian citizens,

17:28are subjected to this treatment, which violates human dignity. We demand an apology.

17:34Now, earlier this week, the Israeli government had accused the flotilla of breaching international law

17:39and of being a, quote, PR stunt at the service of Hamas. But Ben-Gavir's actions have attracted

17:46rare criticism from the Israeli government, including the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,

17:52who said, Israel has every right to prevent provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters

17:59from entering our territorial waters and reaching Gaza. However, the way that Minister Ben-Gavir dealt

18:06with the flotilla activists is not in line with Israel's values and norms. Well, our correspondent,

18:15Vincenzo Genovese, spoke to MEP Benedetta Scuderi in Strasbourg, where the European Parliament sits

18:21this week, and asked for her reaction. We're seeing these horrible videos of the activists

18:27being beaten, being forced to be on their knees, being basically tortured with a minister of a state

18:36that we have a lot of relationship with, shouting at them. So, as Europe, we need to have a strong

18:42stand. That means that we really need to stop the association agreement with Israel, according to

18:49Article 2, because there's a clear violation of human rights for Palestinians, and there's a clear

18:54violation of any kind of law and legality that is now starting to affect also European citizens,

19:00and this is unacceptable.

19:03And that brings today's episode to an end. Thank you so much for starting your day with us here

19:08on Europe Today. And if you have tips, feedback, or questions for us, do get in touch. We'd love to

19:14hear from you. You can email us at europetoday at euronews.com. We'll be back again tomorrow with more

19:20news and analysis for you. See you then.

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