Lazdijų district mayor stresses promises to residents must be kept after military base approval

The mayor of Lazdijų district, Ausma Miškinienė, has stated that ensuring promises made to local residents are fulfilled without delay is now the top priority following the parliament’s final approval of a military training ground in Kapčiamiestis, LRT reports.

“For Lazdijų district municipality and for me personally, national security is the most important and meaningful issue,” Miškinienė told journalists at the Seimas on Thursday. She added that she takes the threat from “unfriendly neighbours” and the geopolitical situation “very seriously,” emphasising that security interests and residents’ interests must be aligned.

“In my view, this training ground is important and meaningful for Lithuania. Now, the most crucial thing is that all promises given to people do not remain empty declarations—that what the government has assigned to ministries in its protocols is implemented, and done so without delay,” the mayor stressed.

The Seimas voted decisively on Thursday to establish the Kapčiamiestis training ground, with 105 lawmakers in favour, 12 against, and four abstentions. The site will be divided into two functional zones: one for manoeuvres and another for live-fire combat ranges, covering a total of 14,600 hectares, according to the Ministry of National Defence.

Around two-thirds of the designated area will serve military training functions, including manoeuvres, tactical movement exercises, and administrative buildings. This section contains 77 homesteads, whose owners or businesses will have 60 months to decide whether to stay or sell their property to the state under simplified procedures.

The remaining zone, dedicated to live-fire training and located near the Polish border, includes 13 homesteads. Property here will be acquired under a separate law, with independent appraisers assessing value. Residents will receive compensation for non-material damages—45 times the minimum monthly wage (€51,800 per homestead)—while those in the manoeuvre zone will have five years to choose between staying or selling at the higher of replacement or comparative value, plus an additional €25,300 for non-material losses.

The State Defence Council had decided in December to establish the brigade-level training ground in Lazdijų district, alongside a plan to double the size of the existing Tauragė facility by expanding into Jurbarkas district.