Lithuania has extended the closure of part of its airspace along the border with Belarus until Dec. 1, the Baltic News Service (BNS) reported Thursday, News.Az reports citing Reuters.
The restricted zone was first introduced on Aug. 12 and was initially set to remain in place until October.
According to the Defense Ministry, the measure was taken due to security concerns, particularly the risk to civil aviation posed by drone incursions.
Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told BNS that the closure would remain in effect until new legislation granting the chief of defense powers to restrict airspace zones is fully implemented.
Last week, the Lithuanian parliament approved amendments enabling the military to more quickly neutralize drones threatening Lithuanian airspace and to coordinate with air traffic control to immediately restrict flights in certain areas when necessary.
“We are doing post-legislative and practical work to set up procedures and algorithms and prepare the entire system so that it can function in practice. Until this work is completed, we will extend the validity of the automatic restricted airspace zones,” Sakaliene said.
She added that once the system is fully operational, airspace restrictions could be imposed more precisely, “exactly where and when needed, and perhaps for very short periods.”