Lithuania honours Medininkai victims as border risks evolve

Lithuania on Friday marked the 35th anniversary of the Medininkai killings, with national leaders urging people to remember the cost of freedom and protect the state, LRT reported.

The ceremony took place at the Medininkai memorial, where eight Lithuanian officials killed on July 31, 1991, were honoured with gun salutes.

The victims were customs officers Antanas Musteikis, Stanislovas Orlavičius and Ričardas Rabavičius; Aras officers Algimantas Juozakas and Mindaugas Balavakas; and police officers Juozas Janonis and Algirdas Kazlauskas. They were shot dead by OMON.

Žydrūnas Vaikasas, commander of the Gintaras Žagunis border guard post, visited the border crossing with Belarus, which has been out of operation for several years. Fences, surveillance systems, concertina wire and dragon’s teeth now block the road from Belarus.

Vaikasas began his service at the Medininkai post in April 1991. About three months later, the killings took place there.

“About a month before that, a mass assault by OMON began. Border guards were beaten and their temporary cabins were burned,” Vaikasas said. He added that, because the road was the main route to Minsk, only customs officers, two police officers and Aras officers had been left there at the time. Border guards were not stationed on the road.

Vytautas Landsbergis, chairman of the Supreme Council-Reconstituent Seimas, called on people to preserve the memory of the struggle and remain ready to defend Lithuania.

President Gitanas Nausėda said strengthening defence remains necessary today. He said work was under way every day to acquire the equipment most needed and integrate it into a system capable of providing the highest level of security possible with available financial resources.

Border guards would again be among the first officials to face an enemy, but unlike in 1991, they would be properly armed and prepared rather than equipped only with caps and rubber batons.

Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas said border guards and the Public Security Service had a plan to reach military standards by 2030. He said this would require funding and cooperation with the military, adding that external security could not be ensured without internal security.

Vaikasas said risks had not disappeared even after the authorities dealt with illegal migration. He pointed to a recent trend of digging tunnels, which is currently understood to be linked to illegal migration but could also create other, potentially hybrid, risks.

“Who knows who could come through that tunnel? An illegal migrant or someone else?” he said. Vaikasas added that officers today were not only able to defend themselves but also to protect others.