Lithuania briefs EU allies after drone shot down by Nato jets overnight – Europe live

I am also keeping an eye on the latest from Sweden, and it looks like we may have to wait a bit longer for the final results of the parliamentary election.

The Swedish election authority said it was expecting a larger than usual number of late-arriving votes this year – potentially around ۳۰۰,۰۰۰ – and so the count may not be fully completed until Thursday, Swedish broadcaster SVT reported.

With ۹۵% votes counted, the left-leaning opposition bloc leads with ۱۷۶ seats in the new parliament to the government’s ۱۷۳, with just ۳۲,۰۰۰ votes separating the two blocs.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian defence minister Kęstutis Budrys said he informed Nato allies about last night’s drone incident, with discussions now ongoing on how to strengthen the alliance’s eastern flank.

He said Lithuania will be “requesting discussions on these topics both in the EU and Nato, because it is obvious that we all still have a lot of homework to do,” Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reported.

The drone was shot down by Italian fighter jets taking part in a Nato mission, Italy’s defence ministry confirmed.

Separately, Dutch authorities are investigating a major outage that affected parts of the country’s railway system, suspecting a possible sabotage after objects were placed on tracks.

The objects caused failures across the network, affecting several level crossings which ‌disrupted road traffic, Dutch rail infrastructure operator Pro Rail said ​in a statement.

It explained that as a result, “our computer system identifies a section of track as occupied, even though there is no train present.”

“Because safety always comes first, signals automatically turn red. As a result, trains must stop or slow down. Level crossings can also malfunction,” it said.

It did not comment on who could be behind the incident.

Former Danish defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen warned that the frigate incident was a further proof of Russia’s “extremely aggressive” behaviour seeking to “provoke potential conflicts.”

“We should be very aware of that,” he said in comments reported by Danish broadcaster DR.

Defence minister Jeppe Bruus called an all-party meeting on the incident this morning to give political leaders a more detailed read on what happened, DR said.

Morning opening: Russia-attributed security incidents intensify across Europe

Jakub Krupa

Denmark has summoned Russia’s ambassador after a Russian warship fired two emergency flares at a Danish army’s helicopter in the Baltic Sea in the latest of incidents attributed to Moscow.

The incident took place during what Denmark said was “a routine” monitoring of the frigate.

“Reckless action from Russia towards Danish military during a routine overflight yesterday. Russian actions are meant to intimidate and divide. They will not succeed. We will not waver,” prime minister Mette Frederiksen said.

Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the frigate’s behaviour was “completely unacceptable.”

The incident took place amid worsening security situation in Europe.

Separately, Nato fighter jets stationed on the alliance’s eastern flank shot down a drone – believed to be flying from Belarus – over Lithuania last night.

“With Russia intensifying its aggression against Ukraine, such readiness is vital for our region,” Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nausėda said.

Meanwhile, Poland discovered remains of a suspected Russian drone near its Baltic Sea coast, just a day after a Russian drone hit a train on Ukraine’s border with Poland on Sunday.

It’s Tuesday, ۱۵ September ۲۰۲۶, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.