Lithuania to deploy up to 100 troops at Kaliningrad border

Lithuania will deploy up to 100 troops to help guard its border with Russia’s Kaliningrad region, Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas said, while stressing that the threat level has not changed. LRT reported that the request was made after authorities assessed information from relevant services and concluded that border guards needed support.

Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said on Wednesday that the military would assist at the border for the next few weeks. Katelynas told reporters in parliament on Thursday that the deployment was a preventive measure, citing a planned mobilisation in Russia after its elections and the possibility that people seeking to avoid it might enter Lithuania and request asylum.

He also pointed to a recent incident at the Latvia-Belarus border, saying it showed that the use of migration as a tool was posing growing threats. Katelynas said the government was not currently considering deploying troops to the Belarusian border.

The minister said Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service had faced threats on both borders for a long time, including tunnels and attempts to cross illegally. Last week, 43 migrants attempted to enter southern Lithuania, but the attempt was stopped. Katelynas said the service was overstretched, with increasing workloads and no rise in staffing, and that support was needed.

Kaunas said up to 100 troops were expected to help guard the border until October 16. He described two weeks as a reasonable period that could be extended after consultation. The troops were expected to arrive on Thursday.

The State Border Guard Service said the situation at the Kaliningrad border was calm and that no irregular migrants from Belarus had been recorded for five consecutive days.

This week, a group of at least 20 migrants accompanied by masked people tried to cross illegally from Belarus into Latvia. Latvia’s National Armed Forces said the escorts were armed, threatened soldiers and urged and pushed the migrants towards Latvia. Several hours later, masked people entered Latvian territory, damaged an electricity distribution cabinet and stole video cameras before returning to Belarus.

Latvia has prevented nearly 12,000 people from illegally crossing its border from Belarus this year. Lithuanian border officials have stopped 1,693 people from entering from Belarus this year, compared with more than 1,650 last year. Since the start of the migration crisis linked to Belarus, Lithuania has turned back about 26,300 irregular migrants.