Polish rejection of joint military training area allows Lithuania to proceed with Kapčiamiestis site

Lithuanian officials say Warsaw’s refusal to join a bilateral training facility will not disrupt defence cooperation after Vilnius confirmed plans to proceed with a new military training ground near the Polish border.

Seimas National Security and Defence Committee chair Rimantas Sinkevičius told BNS on Friday that Lithuania had already advanced far enough with the Kapčiamiestis site to make it the preferred option. “Poland can make excellent use of our Kapčiamiestis training ground,” he said. “We would have had to start from scratch again if we had tried to build something together.”

Sinkevičius added that Vilnius would adopt a military mobility package to simplify troop movements between the two countries, describing the arrangement as a “military Schengen.” He argued that a joint facility could create unnecessary friction. “If two brothers go into business together and split the shares fifty-fifty, conflicts almost always arise,” he said. “Do we need that extra layer of negotiations and delays? We already have our own site.”

Poland’s Defence Vice-Minister Paweł Bejda said on Thursday in Suwałki that the Kapčiamiestis training area would not be expanded toward Poland and that talks were under way to ensure it remained sufficiently distant from the border, partly in response to protests in the Suwałki region. So far, Sinkevičius said, there had been no disputes with Warsaw over the location.

Presidential national-security adviser Deividas Matulionis told BNS he did not see Bejda’s remarks as a sign of Poland distancing itself from allied defence planning. “We do not expect Poland to step back, because we are NATO allies and we would certainly count on Polish support if needed,” he said. “Contacts have been positive and remain so. I would not read too much into a single comment.”

The government approved the Kapčiamiestis training-ground project on Wednesday; parliament still needs to ratify it. The decision follows a 2025 recommendation by the State Defence Council. The site, covering about 14,600 hectares near the Suwałki corridor, could accommodate 3,500–4,000 troops at once. Large-scale exercises would occur roughly five times a year for up to ten days, with smaller drills held continuously.