Kaunas says Lithuania border calm as officials weigh extending military support
Thursday 5th November 2026 on 13:30 in
Lithuania
Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said the situation on the country’s border was calm and being monitored, LRT reported, as officials consider extending military support for border protection.
Lithuanian troops are helping interior affairs authorities protect the border against possible provocations, Kaunas told reporters in parliament. He said there appeared to have been more activity on the Polish border, where authorities had dealt with the situation.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said border guards prevented a possible incident near the border with Russia’s Kaliningrad region on Tuesday night after people carrying flashlights were spotted. He did not provide further details and said it could not be confirmed with certainty that the incident was an attempted provocation.
Tusk has warned for months that Russia could be preparing a serious hybrid attack against a NATO country. He said warnings were becoming more specific, citing intelligence from NATO, Ukraine and US agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency. He also said Russia would likely continue to raise tensions.
Kaunas said Lithuania was discussing whether to extend the military’s assistance to the State Border Guard Service and maintain reinforced protection along the border with Kaliningrad. The current decision runs until mid-November, and further decisions will be made after security and intelligence assessments.
Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said he would not rule out extending the measures, pending advice from the Second Investigation Department under the Ministry of National Defence and military advisers.
Reinforced border protection was introduced in October and later extended until mid-November. The measures followed an attempt by a group of migrants accompanied by armed people to cross illegally from Belarus into Latvia, as well as broader regional security concerns and indications that Russia might announce mobilisation. The number of troops assigned to support border protection is expected to remain at up to 100.