‘No hybrid attack will be tolerated,’ Lithuanian PM says, with Belarus border closure
We are also getting a bit more detail on the technical process of implementing Lithuania’s decision to close its border with Belarus (9:49).
The border is currently closed on the basis of a temporary decision made by the country’s border force, and a further indefinite closure will be discussed and expected to be approved at the government meeting on Wednesday.
The country’s prime minister Inga Ruginienė said at a press conference earlier today that the government has already drafted the order, which includes only very limited exceptions for Lithuanian and EU citizens as well as diplomatic mail to be still allowed through the border.
“All other movement will be halted. This sends a clear signal to Belarus that no hybrid attack will be tolerated here, and we will take the strictest possible measures to stop such actions,” she said, as quoted by public broadcaster LRT.
Key events
Belarus calls Lithuania’s decision to close border ‘provocation’
Meanwhile, Belarus has responded to the Lithuanian decision to close its borders with the country, calling it “a provocation designed to justify anti-Belarusian policies and expand sanctions,” Russian news agency Tass reported.
It added that the border closure had first practical implications with the Belarusian state-owned enterprise Minsktrans canceling several bus routes to Latvia and Lithuania “due to the closure of Lithuanian border crossings.”
But over in Budapest, Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said Budapest still hopes the US-Russia talks could go ahead in Budapest and reiterated the government was prepared to host them “at any time”, Tass reported.
He said he discussed it directly with the US state secretary, Marco Rubio, and expected the topic to come up during Orbán’s visit to see Donald Trump in Washington next week.
Hungary’s Orbán meets Pope Leo, Italy’s Meloni for talks on war in Ukraine
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has met with Pope Leo XVI at the Vatican earlier today for talks that cover a response to the Russian invasion on Ukraine.
Orbán, a longstanding critic of the West’s response to the war, said earlier today that he would reiterate his call to end the war, warning that “if we want to preserve the peace of Hungary, we cannot swim with the mainstream of Brussels.”
“We want to stay out of the war fever spreading around the world, which is why we have been organising an anti-war coalition since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war,” he said.
His foreign policy stance has been repeatedly criticised by other EU leaders, which accused him of taking pro-Russian positions, but it won him some praise elsewhere.
Earlier this month, US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin briefly suggested they could hold another summit to discuss Ukraine in Budapest, Hungary, but the idea is understood to have been shelved for now.
Orbán is also expected to meet with the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, later today.
EU ‘doing everything we can’ to address Ukraine’s financial needs after failing to agree to use frozen Russian assets
At the midday press briefing, the European Commission has also faced questions over its plans for Ukraine, and whether it was confident that the proposed €140bn reparations loan – backed by Russian frozen assets – could still go ahead after the EU leaders couldn’t agree on it last week.
“We are doing everything we can to indeed address the needs of Ukraine for the next two years, and more than that. As said, and I remind everyone here, the European Council reiterated its commitment to address the pressing financial needs of Ukraine in 2026/2027,” chief spokesperson Paula Pinho said.
EU ‘aware’ of Lithuania balloon incidents, in touch with Lithuanian authorities
Responding to the latest from Lithuania, EU transport spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said the commission was “aware of these incidents” and noted the airport disruptions over the weekend.
But she declined to speculate as to the causes of the incident.
“We are in close contact with the national authorities in this case, as well as IATA and the relevant authorities who will be able to look into this.
But I do not have information to give from here, as regards possible causes or possible other modes of cooperation, but we are very much aware of this, and we do stay in contact with Lithuanian authorities on this.”
Populist billionaire Babiš formally tasked with leading talks to form new Czech government
Meanwhile over in the Czech Republic, the country’s president Petr Pavel has tasked the populist billionaire Andrej Babiš with leading talks on forming the new government after recent parliamentary election.
Babiš told the president – who defeated him in the 2023 presidential elections – that the coalition talks were already under way, and “promised to hand over the text of the coalition agreement and programme priorities” later this week, according to a readout issued by the presidential office.
In pointed comments, Pavel particularly enquired about the new government’s foreign and security policy positions, and stressed that the new administration “will not in any way weaken the principles of our democratic state,” his office said.
Pavel said before the election that he would not appoint any ministers who sought Czech withdrawal from the EU or from Nato.
Babiš also reportedly promised to “resolve the conflicts of interest” before his possible appointment as the Czech Republic’s next prime minister, the readout said.
Final results of the election held early this month showed Babiš’s ANO won 34.5% of the vote. The centre-right Spolu coalition of the outgoing prime minister, Petr Fiala, came second on 23.4%.
Since the election, ANO has been in talks with the right-wing, Eurosceptic Motorists and the far-right, anti-EU and anti-Nato SPD parties, which together would hold a combined 108 out of the 200 seats in parliament’s lower house, Reuters reported.
Ukrainian man suspected of Nord Stream involvement will stay in Italy until Supreme Court hearing, lawyer says
On the Ukrainian man suspected of involvement in the Nord Stream gas pipelines explosion, his lawyer Nicola Canestrini said in a statement that his client would appeal the decision by the court of appeals in Bologna.
A different section of the same court had approved the extradition in September only for Italy’s top court to reject the decision over an issue with the arrest warrant issued by Germany, sending the case back for reexamination, AFP noted.
In a statement, Canestrini said the proceedings against Kuznietsov were “tainted by serious procedural violations undermining both legality and the fundamental guarantees of due process.”
Kuznietsov claims to have been a member of the Ukrainian armed forces and in Ukraine at the time of the incident, a claim his defence team has said would give him “functional immunity” under international law.
“The Supreme Court hearing is expected to take place within about one month, and [the suspect] will remain in Italy until that decision is made,” lawyer Canestrini said.
‘No hybrid attack will be tolerated,’ Lithuanian PM says, with Belarus border closure
We are also getting a bit more detail on the technical process of implementing Lithuania’s decision to close its border with Belarus (9:49).
The border is currently closed on the basis of a temporary decision made by the country’s border force, and a further indefinite closure will be discussed and expected to be approved at the government meeting on Wednesday.
The country’s prime minister Inga Ruginienė said at a press conference earlier today that the government has already drafted the order, which includes only very limited exceptions for Lithuanian and EU citizens as well as diplomatic mail to be still allowed through the border.
“All other movement will be halted. This sends a clear signal to Belarus that no hybrid attack will be tolerated here, and we will take the strictest possible measures to stop such actions,” she said, as quoted by public broadcaster LRT.
Italian court approves extradition of Nord Stream suspect to Germany – reports
Meanwhile, we are getting a line from Italy that a court has approved the extradition of a Ukrainian suspect in the Nord Stream explosion case to Germany, according to German DPA news agency and Reuters.
The suspect, identified previously only as Serhii K. under privacy laws, is expected to appeal against the decision to Italy’s highest court, his defence lawyer told Reuters.
I will bring you more on this when we have it.
French police arrest two men over €88m Louvre jewel heist
Jon Henley
in Paris
Over in France, French police have arrested two suspects believed to have helped steal crown jewels worth an estimated €88m (£76m) from the Louvre museum in Paris, officials have said, a week after one of the country’s most spectacular heists in decades.
The Paris public prosecutor confirmed media reports on Sunday that one man had been detained at about 10pm local time on Saturday at the capital’s Charles de Gaulle airport by officers from the armed robberies and serious burglaries squad.
The prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, did not say how many arrests had been made nor whether any jewels had been recovered, but officials close to the investigation confirmed to French media that a second suspect had also been taken into custody in the Paris region.
Beccuau said she regretted the premature revelation of the arrests in multiple media outlets, saying it “could only jeopardise the work of more than 100 investigators mobilised to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators.”
Poland detains two Ukrainians for allegedly spying for foreign intelligence
Elsewhere, Poland has detained two Ukrainians accused of collecting details of soldiers and critical infrastructure for foreign intelligence as Warsaw cracks down on alleged espionage by Russia and Belarus, Reuters reported.
The two Ukrainians were among eight people whose detention by Poland and Romania was announced last week, said special services minister Tomasz Siemoniak.
“This is evidence that we are witnessing an intensification of sabotage activities and preparations for sabotage cases,” Siemoniak told Polish radio on Monday.
Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) said the two Ukrainian citizens, aged 32 and 34, were detained in the southern city of Katowice on 14 October.
The ABW said in a statement that the suspects had allegedly collected information about members of the Polish Armed Forces and infrastructure related to efforts to support Ukraine.
Lithuania not ruling out Nato Article 4 talks over balloons, Ruginienė says
Lithuania’s Ruginienė also said that the country was not ruling out the possibility it could call for Nato’s Article 4 consultations, Reuters reported.
The Article 4 – not to be mistaken with much more serious Article 5 provision – allows countries to call for Nato talks “whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened.”
The procedure was only used nine times in Nato’s history, but fairly recently triggered by Poland and Estonia after two incidents of Russian airspace violations in September.
Lithuania to close border with Belarus, shoot down balloons, prime minister says
We are just getting first lines from the Lithuanian prime minister, Inga Ruginienė, following this morning’s security council meeting.
The government will pursue a plan to close its border with Belarus “except for diplomats and EU citizens leaving Belarus,” she said, and pledged to shoot down any further balloons disrupting the Lithuanian airspace.
“This is how we send a signal to Belarus and say that no hybrid attack will be tolerated here, we will take all the strictest measures to stop such attacks,” she said in comments reported by public broadcaster LRT.
Almost 30,000 passengers hit by disruptions at Vilnius airport last week
According to Lithuania’s public broadcaster LRT, the Vilnius Airport has reopened this morning with almost 50 flights affected by cancellations, diversions and delays, hitting thousands of passengers.
In total, more than 170 flights were disrupted over the course of the week, complicating the journey of almost 30,000 passengers, the airport operator told LRT.
It was explained that the decision to close the airspace as a precaution was deemed necessary as some of the balloons detected near the airport were believed to weigh up to 50-60 kg, and any impact with an incoming aircraft could have “dramatic” consequences.
Morning opening: Lithuania to consider responding to balloons from Belarus closing its airspace
Jakub Krupa
Lithuania closed its Vilnius Airport for the fourth time in a week last night after several objects, believed to be helium balloons, entered its airspace.
The balloons were primarily believed to be used by smugglers transporting contraband cigarettes from Belarus, but authorities blamed Russia and Belarus for putting more pressure on Vilnius and testing the country’s readiness.
Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Center, told the country’s national broadcaster LRT that up to 66 objects were spotted on radars on Sunday night.
Deividas Matulionis, a senior advisor to Lithaunia’s president Gitanas Nausėda, said it was part of a “hybrid psychological operation” seeking to disrupt everyday life of Lithuanians.
“We very much hope that immediate action will be taken, but there should also be very strong diplomatic action and certain legal measures, which should be approved by the Seimas as soon as possible,” he told LRT.
The country’s national security council will meet today to discuss next steps, including potential measures on extending the temporary closure of borders with Belarus or restricting transit through the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
Elsewhere, I will be keeping an eye on:
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the German foreign minister Joseph Wadephul’s visit to Brussels where he is due to meet Nato’s Mark Rutte and senior EU representatives,
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Hungary’s Viktor Orbán’s trip to see Pope Leo at the Vatican and the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome,
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and the final days of the Dutch election campaign ahead of the polling day on Wednesday.
Lots to cover today. I will bring you all the latest here.
It’s Monday, 27 October 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
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