Katelynas plans clearer gun-use rules for officers
Tuesday 25th August 2026 on 13:15 in
Lithuania
Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas is preparing amendments to change the rules governing when officers may use firearms in response to changing hybrid threats, LRT reported.
“In response to the changed geopolitical situation and constantly evolving hybrid threats, I see a need to change the regulation of firearm use,” Katelynas said in comments cited by LRT. He added that officers protecting the state, defending a person’s life, maintaining public order or countering a real threat must know precisely when they may and must use a firearm.
Katelynas said the law should be clear both to the authorities and the public. Officers who lawfully carry out their duties, he said, should not face prosecution simply for defending the state and its citizens. He said the amendments were being drafted on his initiative and would be presented soon.
Debate over officers’ ability to use firearms was renewed after an incident on the border with Belarus. According to information reported by the Lrytas news portal, a scuffle broke out in July between border guards and migrants who emerged from a tunnel. One Lithuanian officer was allegedly slapped, while another was reportedly dragged towards the Belarusian side before managing to break free.
After the reports, Katelynas said that if the information was confirmed, he would see no possibility for Rustamas Liubajevas to continue as head of the State Border Guard Service. Liubajevas later announced his resignation.
Under the current rules, firearms or explosives may be used only in exceptional cases when this is unavoidably necessary and there is an unavoidable threat to a person’s life or health, the protection of the state border, nationally important companies or facilities, or property.
Officers may use firearms to repel an armed incursion into the country, armed attacks on diplomatic or state institutions, or an immediate threat to their own or another person’s life or health. They may also use them to free hostages or prevent a terrorist act.