BRUSSELS, Belgium, Dec 2, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The EU is drawing up new sanctions against the government of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, which it accuses of a "hybrid" campaign against neighbouring Lithuania, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Monday.

In turn, Belarus 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 shut its border with Belarus in October after dozens of balloons loaded with illegal cigarettes entered its airspace, forcing several airports to close and inflaming tensions between the two countries.

"The situation at the border with Belarus is worsening, with the growing incursions of smuggling balloons into Lithuania's airspace," von der Leyen wrote on X following talks with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.

"Such hybrid attack by the (Lukashenko) regime is completely unacceptable. Lithuania continues to have our full solidarity," the European Commission chief said, adding: "We are preparing further measures under our sanctions regime."

Also 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... carried out from the territory of the Republic of Lithuania on November 30", the foreign ministry in Minsk said.

- 'Blackmail' -

The foreign ministry 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 October left thousands of Lithuanian trucks trapped in Belarus. Some are still stuck there, and Vilnius has accused Minsk of "blackmail" over millions of euros in stranded goods.

The EU's diplomatic arm separately said it had summoned Belarus's envoy Monday over "hybrid actions emanating from the Belarusian territory and constituting a threat to the EU", including the "unacceptable situation" of the stranded trucks.

The EU has imposed repeated sanctions on Minsk since 2020 -- including targeting Lukashenko and his family -- for the brutal repression of dissent and support of Moscow's war in Ukraine.

The long-serving strongman is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who allowed Moscow to use his country as a launchpad for its 2022 invasion.