Border Guard chief Liubajevas resigns, minister says

Rustamas Liubajevas is stepping down as commander of Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service, Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas said on Monday, LRT reported.

Katelynas said Liubajevas made the decision himself after considering the circumstances and saying he did not want to damage the service’s reputation and standing.

“I respect his decision and regard it as a responsible step in the situation that has developed,” Katelynas told reporters.

The minister said he would soon submit a proposal to the Government to dismiss Liubajevas. Liubajevas has led the border guard service since 2019.

Katelynas said the service had faced a hybrid migration attack organised by the Belarusian regime, strengthened the protection of Lithuania’s and the European Union’s external borders, and operated in conditions of exceptional geopolitical tension during Liubajevas’s tenure.

“The leadership of an institution responsible for protecting the state border requires the full confidence of officers, the public and the political leadership,” Katelynas said. He added that serious questions had arisen after a recent border incident about whether information had been provided in a timely, accurate and comprehensive manner, as well as about the circumstances of the incident itself.

Earlier, Katelynas had said he would see no possibility for Liubajevas to remain in office if reports about the incident were confirmed. The reports said that, during an incident at the end of July, irregular migrants tried to drag a border guard into Belarus, although the officer managed to free himself.

Katelynas said he had not asked Liubajevas whether he knew about the newly disclosed circumstances, adding that he himself had not been informed of any additional details.

The minister said he did not yet know who would permanently replace Liubajevas. One of the service’s deputy commanders will lead it temporarily while a longer-term solution is considered.

Incident at tunnel near Belarusian border

The Delfi news portal reported that a group of migrants trying to enter Lithuania illegally through a tunnel attacked State Border Guard Service officers in the Lazdijai district at the end of July.

The incident took place on July 26 in the territory of the Kapčiamiestis border station, near the Belarusian border. According to the report, officers discovered the tunnel and detained several migrants who had tried to pass through it illegally. About 20 more people then emerged from the tunnel and attacked the officers.

Vitalijus Jagminas, head of the Vilnius County Pre-Trial Investigation Institutions Trade Union, told Delfi that one of the officers allegedly was on sick leave.

Katelynas said he had formally been informed about the border incident earlier, but had only been told that the digging of a tunnel had been stopped.

An official inspection into the actions of the State Border Guard Service leadership was launched after the incident became public. The Prosecutor’s Office said it had no information that an officer had been injured during the incident and that all people involved had been questioned.