(VILNIUS) – NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus shortly after midnight, triggering air raid alarms and causing temporary delays at several airports due to airspace closures. The drone reportedly flew near the capital, Vilnius, before being intercepted near the city of Kaunas.
The incident occurred just a day after Ukrainian officials warned that Russia is likely using mobile networks and repeater stations on Belarusian territory to steer its drones during mass attacks against Ukraine. It also follows the Polish military’s retrieval of a suspected Russian Gerbera drone from the Baltic Sea. Polish and Lithuanian foreign ministers have agreed to conduct a joint investigation into the circumstances of these recent drone incursions.
When asked about the incursions, Jacek Siewiera, former director of the Polish National Security Bureau, commented on how NATO should respond. “Russia has to understand that every incident costs disproportionately big money,” he said. “But this communication has to be very simple. If we detect one arson of our factory, we donate 1,000 drones to Ukraine. If we detect one interception of your hostile activity on the Baltic, we donate 1,000 long-range drones to Ukraine. This connection has to be simple, visible and understandable for their strategists.”
He added that there is no comparison between the cost of arson or airspace violations and the potential damage that 1,000 drones could inflict. “Europe has to build that direct link between provocation, sabotage, diversion and the result on clear soil in Moscow,” Siewiera stated.
Residents in parts of southeastern Poland received emergency alerts overnight as the military scrambled fighter jets during a massive Russian drone attack on western Ukraine. The Polish armed forces later confirmed that there were no violations of Polish airspace. One person was wounded after a drone hit a gas station in Kyiv early on Tuesday, while several warehouses were damaged.
The attack came just one day after US President Donald Trump announced that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to strike each other’s energy assets. Ukraine is also continuing its campaign of long-range attacks against Russia. Authorities in the Samara region report that a drone strike damaged an industrial facility on the Volga River early on Tuesday. A Ukrainian missile attack also destroyed a warehouse belonging to e-commerce company Ozon in the southern port city of Taganrog.
Commenting on Washington’s renewed diplomatic efforts, retired General Ben Hodges said US President Donald Trump may not be able to force Russia to honour the proposed ceasefire. “Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen with the current president,” he said. “He’s had multiple opportunities to tell who he describes as his good friend Vladimir Putin to stop doing what they’re doing, this illegal war against Ukraine and the dangerous things they’re doing against European countries. It’s embarrassing for me and sickening, but I don’t think this American president is going to do any of that.”
Hodges added that Europeans will have to work more closely together, noting that the combined economies, populations, technology and wealth of the EU, plus the UK, Norway, Turkey and Ukraine, dwarf Russia.
Finland has joined France’s nuclear forward deterrence programme, becoming the 10th country to join the French initiative. Finland’s neutrality is long gone, and after joining NATO, the country is now taking a further step. “We will gain additional deterrence through France’s nuclear weapons,” said Finnish officials. Finland shares an over 1,300 kilometre long border with Russia, and as Moscow proves increasingly hostile towards its neighbours, Helsinki wants additional deterrence.
“This is certainly not about having French nuclear weapons placed on Finnish soil or Finnish airborne assets,” explained one official. “This cooperation is aimed to stimulate strategic discussion between two countries.” Finland is now one of 10 European countries that have joined the French nuclear deterrence initiative, alongside Poland. Despite France having launched the programme back in March, the scope of cooperation remains vague. “This is something that will work complimentary to NATO’s extended nuclear deterrence and NATO’s nuclear sharing programme. So it adds an extra dimension to deterrence in Northern Europe.”
The announcement came on the sidelines of the European Arctic Summit taking place in Finland. European leaders gathered to push for strengthening operational structures in the high north. “In order to respond to the threat posed by Russia, the EU must treat the Arctic as a strategic frontier,” said one leader. In the late 1980s under Gorbachev, the Russians held the view that the Arctic should be a zone of peace no matter what happens elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, the Russians seem to be reneging on that.
At the summit, leaders made it clear that Russia poses a threat to the entire continent, as proven by near daily hybrid attacks. On Monday morning, the Baltic region saw yet another incident when a Russian drone washed up on the Polish shore. “We are ready to react. We know where these interferences and these attacks are coming from. The evidence is very clear,” said one official. New formats of defence cooperation have been emerging within Europe and NATO since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Countries bordering Russia, like Poland, Finland and the Baltic States, are especially proactive in seeking new measures of deterrence.
In other news, Canada is exploring a unique alliance with the European Union. Prime Minister Mark Carney is headed to Strasbourg this week with a big question: how close can Canada get to the European Union without actually joining it? While the prime minister has ruled out actual membership, he says that Ottawa is looking towards what he calls a unique alliance. “We share the same values. We have the same priorities. And we have very complimentary strengths. We’re stronger together. And this is at a time where the world’s more dangerous and divided and friends need to stick together.”
Canada and the EU already have a free trade agreement as well as a security and defence partnership. But Carney’s government is now exploring much deeper economic integration. A senior European official confirmed that while membership is not an option, the two sides are working towards an expanded free trade agreement. This would involve cutting more red tape on critical trade sectors and deepening cooperation on critical raw materials, as well as mutual recognition of professional qualifications in areas like medicine and engineering, making it easier for skilled workers to move across the Atlantic.
The timing is no coincidence. US President Donald Trump’s tariffs have hit key Canadian industries, and his repeated talk of making Canada the 51st American state has further strained the relationship. With its biggest trading relationship upheaved, Canada is now looking towards different partners. Prime Minister Carney will be headed to Strasbourg this week to take stock of how far this new relationship can go.
The United States has acknowledged for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space. The US Space Force was formed in 2019 to protect American space assets, including communications and civilian satellites. US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told the Air, Space and Cyber Conference in Maryland that weapons are now in orbit around Earth. Meink gave no details about the new systems but said they can defend American forces against hostile actions.
After a year and a half of political deadlock and three snap elections, Kosovo has formed a new government. Each green square in the parliamentary vote was a vote for Albin Kurti, the new old prime minister. “Our vision in these years of our joint governance is to work for the citizens and protect families. Our government is a service to the public, not a privilege for the few,” Kurti said. But this service might not last long.
Kosovo has been grappling with a political crisis for a year and a half, having faced three snap general elections. Kurti’s centre-left Self-Determination party was victorious in each of them, but none of the ballots produced a stable majority government. This latest one is also fragile. First, it is being challenged in the constitutional court by the biggest opposition party over the way parliament was convened. The other issue is the election of the president, which has been an obstacle for some time and has triggered at least one of the last two elections. The president is elected indirectly by parliament. The latest candidate put forward at the end of August was Besim Seu, a former judge of the country’s constitutional court. “I have accepted this proposal although my ambitions have always been focused more on academic and professional fields,” Seu said.
However, eventually Seu might not have enough votes to be elected, and a failure to do so would result in another snap ballot. Despite the dwindling number of voters showing up to cast their ballots in each election, the mood among Kosovo society has yet to reach a boiling point over the lack of consensus in parliament. “We don’t see large scale protests, which is also a bit surprising,” said one observer. The protests that do happen in the streets of Kosovo are a response to the trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi and three others, all former commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, being tried in The Hague. Prosecutors seek a 45 year prison sentence for the former president for acts committed during the 1990s war that eventually paved the way for Kosovo’s independence from Serbia.
“They did what any Albanian would do for their home, for their land. They defended their territory and did not attack anyone.” In Kosovo, a acquittal of all four is expected. The ruling of the court is expected on Wednesday.
After a two and a half month summer break, the Polish National Opera has opened its 2026/27 season with the Grand Ballet Gala. The crowning glory of the evening was a piece of classical music with the status of a rock anthem: Boléro by Ravel, set to the now iconic choreography by the director of the Polish National Ballet. But before the Grand Ballet Gala could even begin, the stars had to rise from their slumber.
This gala has a significance shared by no other before, as it marks the start of the full tenure of the institution’s new director. “We could say Sleeping Beauty has woken up and we are back. We are starting the new season with the ballet gala which will be performed by our company here with our orchestra, with the Polish National Ballet, with special guests from London, from La Scala and from Paris.”
Among those guests were two principal dancers from the Royal Ballet in London. “It’s a big honour to have the opportunity to share my work. I hope that it’s the first of many trips to Poland to share our work,” said one. Joel Gamu starts his journey with Poland’s arguably finest cultural institution.
“It’s a very big moment because it’s my first performance here as music director, but it’s also a really big moment because I’m a huge ballet fan and I’ve been dreaming to conduct ballet my whole life. So it’s a dream come true.” For the dancers themselves, that dream comes at a cost. “My body, I don’t know if I can be honest, feels broken. But I think the pleasure of going on stage is much more rewarding. When the audience is clapping for us, I forget about all of the pains and about everything that my body felt.”
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