Resolution on the continuous Belarusian hybrid attacks against Lithuania
The European Parliament adopted by 385 votes to 97, with 78 abstentions, a resolution on the continuous Belarusian hybrid attacks against Lithuania.
The text adopted in plenary was tabled as a joint resolution by the EPP, S&D, ECR, Renew, Greens/EFA groups.
Belarus has intensified its hybrid operations against Lithuania, including the deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles and balloons, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns, and continues to instrumentalise migration. These actions are part of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Since Lithuania's decision to temporarily close its border with Belarus, the de facto Belarusian authorities have engaged in economic coercion by intercepting European freight vehicles, threatening to confiscate them, and obstructing lawful cross-border trading.
Parliament strongly condemned Belarus's ongoing hybrid attacks against Lithuania and, consequently, the EU, including balloon incursions, instrumentalised migration, economic coercion, smuggling operations, military provocations, cyberattacks, and state disinformation. It considers these attacks to be deliberate, coordinated, and hostile, and to be part of a broader strategy by Russia to undermine the EU, the governments of its Member States, and NATO.
Members demanded that Belarus immediately cease all hybrid attacks against Lithuania and other Member States and immediately release all European hauliers and their property, compensate them for all financial losses and guarantee the safety of civil aviation and border crossings.
Parliament fully supports Lithuania's right to take proportionate measures against any attack to protect its sovereignty, public order, and aviation safety, including the interception or neutralisation of unmanned flights objects originating from Belarus. It deplored the lack of coordination surrounding the partial lifting of US sanctions against Belarus on 13 December 2025 and reaffirmed that it does not recognise Alexander Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus.
Members stated that any review of EU sanctions against Belarus or any dialogue with it must be strictly conditional on Belarus achieving lasting, verifiable and irreversible systemic change, including the release of the more than 1 100 remaining political prisoners.
Parliament called for deeper cooperation between the EU and NATO in the field of intelligence regarding airspace security and the fight against hybrid threats. It called for enhanced cooperation between the EU and NATO on monitoring Lithuanian airspace and invited Member States and NATO allies to reassess current strategic and operational frameworks for addressing hybrid threats, with a view to strengthening deterrence.
The Commission and Frontex are urged to support the strengthening of border and airspace surveillance in Lithuania through the use of additional sensors, patrol aircraft, and mobile counter-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) kits, as well as real-time threat analysis. Members also called for deeper cooperation between the EU and Ukraine on drone technologies and cybersecurity.
The Council is invited to:
- adopt additional targeted sanctions against those responsible, public and private entities and individuals involved in Belarus in the production and deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles and any other hybrid operation targeting critical infrastructure, economic activities and democratic institutions;
- take further sectoral measures against Belarus, including strengthened restrictions in the aviation and financial sectors, additional import and investment bans, broader service bans, restrictions on access to governance roles in critical European infrastructure and bans on accepting donations from Belarusian de facto authorities and public entities.
Lastly, Parliament urged the Council to integrate eastern-border security priorities into the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), ensuring sustained EU investment to counter hybrid threats and improving the resilience of critical EU infrastructure, military mobility, and defence technologies. It also called on the EU and Member States to strengthen strategic communication and combat disinformation.