Lithuania proposes restoring warning shots as unions raise doubts

Lithuania’s Interior Ministry is proposing to restore officers’ ability to fire warning shots and expand protections for them, LRT reported. Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas said the changes would also make it easier for border guards to use firearms in certain situations, while police unions said the proposals had not been coordinated with them.

Under current rules, an officer may use a firearm when there is an unavoidable danger and an unavoidable necessity. The ministry wants to remove those requirements.

“These are statements of an evaluative nature. If the state asks an officer to do their job and gives them one to 10 seconds to make a decision, can they assess whether the danger is unavoidable?” Katelynas said.

He stressed that a firearm would remain a last resort. Darius Domarkas, head of the Public Security Group, said the proposals would expand safeguards intended to minimise harm.

The ministry also wants to reintroduce warning shots into the air as an additional way to de-escalate situations. Domarkas said officers currently had only the option of issuing a verbal warning. Warning shots were abolished about a decade ago.

Former police officer and instructor Dalius Mackela said the measure had been removed for good reason. A bullet fired into the air could return to the ground and hit someone, he said, questioning who would protect officers if that happened.

Discussions about firearm use intensified after a group of foreigners attacked border guards in the summer. According to the Interior Ministry, the proposed changes would allow border guards to use firearms more easily against equipment used for illegal border crossings, such as ladders or tunnels.

Katelynas also said officers who shot a suspect would receive legal and psychological assistance.

Police unions, however, questioned whether the changes would help. Ineta Kursevičienė, chair of the Association of Police Trade Unions, said the ministry was turning a complex situation into a show and focusing on the wrong issues.

Roma Katinienė, chair of the Police Trade Union, called for an agreement among law enforcement institutions on simplified procedures after firearms or special equipment were used. She said officers should not become hostages to legal proceedings lasting three or five years.

In May, a court acquitted police officer Darius Šerpytis, who had been accused of killing a person while exceeding his authority. The investigation and trial lasted three years. A case against border guard Karolis Ilgevičius has been heard for two years; he is accused of shooting at the wheel of a fleeing suspected smuggler’s vehicle and killing the driver.

The unions also criticised the ministry for failing to coordinate the proposals with them. Katinienė said the union had not held a single meeting with the current interior minister. Katelynas said the unions would now be able to express their views and argued that changing security conditions required new rules for officers.