Katelynas says border guards hesitate to use firearms

Minister Martynas Katelynas says he often hears that border guards hesitate to use their service weapons in critical situations. Speaking to LRT, he said a recent incident involving migrants did not reveal fundamental problems in Lithuania’s border service.

Katelynas said he could not disclose all the details because a pre-trial investigation and an internal inquiry by the ministry are under way. He said the reviews were intended to establish what happened and ensure that mistakes could be addressed, rather than to punish or dismiss State Border Guard Service commander Rustamas Liubajevas.

According to information made public by the State Border Guard Service, migrants who were attempting to enter Lithuania illegally left during the incident but did not cross the physical barrier into Lithuanian territory.

Katelynas said border guards were trained to respond to such situations and had the equipment provided for in their regulations. He said he trusted officers who carried out their duties honestly.

He said that, over the past five years, there had been almost no cases of illegal migrants entering Lithuania, apart from isolated incidents. The physical barrier and technology used at the border helped officers identify and deter threats, he said.

Katelynas said tunnels had become a new method of attempting to cross the border. An optoelectronic cable in the border zone detects seismic movements, allowing officers to identify signs of tunnel construction and send a team to search for them.

He said the tunnels discovered so far had generally not been completed, with no cases in which an entrance was in Belarus and an exit in Lithuania. Poland’s border guard service is providing technological assistance, and Lithuania plans to acquire technology that can identify precisely where a tunnel is being dug.

Katelynas said he believed border guards were already handling the threat reasonably well and would be better prepared in the future. He also said the number of migrants allowed into Lithuania should be “close to zero”.