Lithuania’s parliament refines plans for work during war

Lithuania’s parliament is refining how it would operate during a crisis or war, with plans for the military to protect key state institutions and lawmakers to assemble within four hours, LRT reports.

The arrangements would allow the Seimas, Lithuania’s parliament, to hold sessions as rarely as once a month during wartime. Some MPs say they lack clear information on how they would work, where they should go or how their safety would be ensured.

Julius Sabatauskas, chair of the Seimas Committee on Law and Law Enforcement, said lawmakers would receive information about meeting locations separately, and that sessions could take place in different locations. He said the details are a state secret. Sabatauskas also said the parliament’s shelter could be better equipped.

Eugenijus Gentvilas, a parliamentarian from Klaipėda, said the four-hour deadline could be difficult for MPs who live outside Vilnius. He warned that access to parliament could be blocked in an attempt to paralyse state operations. Another lawmaker, Arvydas Anušauskas, said he knew the alternative locations and believed other MPs should know them too.

Ignas Vėgėlė, a member of the same parliamentary committee, said lawmakers were not well informed about what to do in wartime, how parliament would function or who would ensure their arrival and safety. He said draft legislation was still being prepared. Rimantas Sinkevičius, chair of the Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence, said the arrangements were secret.

The debate has recalled preparations made during Lithuania’s struggle to restore independence. Audrius Butkevičius, defence minister from 1991 to 1993, said parliament had plans for its work and for quickly gathering MPs. The former Supreme Council had also prepared to defend itself or evacuate, with the Kaunas State Musical Theatre and locations in Šiauliai considered as alternative workplaces.

Gentvilas recalled being called to parliament at night during the January 1991 events, as tanks moved through the streets. In May this year, an air-raid warning forced the current Seimas to suspend its work and move to a shelter. Butkevičius said it can be difficult to organise parliament’s work during a crisis because some lawmakers may not be able to attend at a critical moment. Experts say maintaining state governance during a crisis is essential to the country’s survival.