MOSCOW, Dec 2, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Belarus on Monday summoned a Lithuanian envoy for a dressing down over a drone crash, the latest in a swirl of diplomatic standoffs between the neighbouring post-Soviet states.

Lithuania, an EU and NATO member, recently reopened its border with Belarus after a month-long shutdown imposed after dozens of balloons with illegal cigarettes entered its airspace from the country closely allied with Russia.

The Lithuanian government and the European Union denounced the incidents, which disrupted air traffic at the time, as a "hybrid attack".

On Monday, Belarus said it had summoned Lithuania's diplomatic representative Erikas Vilkanecas over a "violation" of the Belarusian border.

Vilkanecas was handed "a protest over the violation of the state border of the Republic of Belarus by an unmanned aerial vehicle of the aircraft type, carried out from the territory of the Republic of Lithuania on November 30", the foreign ministry in Minsk said.

It added that, after examining video and navigation data of the drone, it was found that the vehicle was supposed to return to Lithuania after a flight over Belarus.

"Such actions pose a threat to the security of the Republic of Belarus and are a direct violation of international law," ministry spokesman Ruslan Varankov said.

The border closure in late October caused tensions between Vilnius and Minsk, and left around 2,000 Lithuanian trucks stranded in Belarus.

The EU on Monday said it was working on new sanctions against Belarus over the balloon incursions into Lithuania.