The European Commission president, speaking at a news conference with leaders from the region, conceded that the spate of air raid alarms had “exposed vulnerabilities” in the continent’s defences.

Her visit came a week after Lithuanians were ordered to head for the bunkers following a brief drone alert in the capital Vilnius, a first for the general population since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

“People in the Baltic countries have been experiencing what many believed belonged to another era,” von der Leyen said, standing alongside the presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

“Air raid alerts, families sheltering, schools closing, transport interrupted. This is the reality on Europe’s eastern border in 2026,” she said.

“These are not isolated incidents. This is a deliberate strategy from Russia, trying to destabilise our democratic societies.

“But very much like on the battlefields of Ukraine, Russia is failing.”

Drone alerts have become increasingly common in recent months in the Baltic states as Ukraine steps up strikes against Russian targets in the Saint Petersburg region, close to Estonia and Finland.

The ex-Soviet Baltic countries have accused Russia of deliberately diverting Ukrainian attacks intended to strike industrial facilities and fossil fuel infrastructure.

While the incidents have caused neither casualties nor material damage, they have demonstrated the inability of the Baltic countries’ air defences to intercept every drone.

At Tuesday’s briefing, von der Leyen admitted that “these incidents have exposed vulnerabilities” – and warned that Moscow’s use of the tactic could spread westwards.

“What you are experiencing today, the rest of Europe could face tomorrow,” she said.

Von der Leyen vowed stepped-up efforts to tackle the problem, “starting with more unified alert systems and improved cross-border coordination”.