Lithuania's interior minister asks army to help guard border with Kaliningrad
In short
Lithuania's Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas asked Defence Minister Robertas Kaunasus to send troops to help border guards patrol the border with Russia's Kaliningrad region. He called the move preventive and said the border situation is currently calm and there is no reason to panic. He linked the request to an incident on the Belarus–Latvia border on the evening of 6 October, when a group of 20 people crossed from Belarus, stole surveillance cameras and damaged an electrical distribution box.
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Lithuania's Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas has asked Defence Minister Robertas Kaunasus to send military personnel to help border guards protect the border with Russia's Kaliningrad region, Interfax and Kommersant reported. Writing on social media, Katelynas said he had approached the national defence minister so that Lithuanian armed forces personnel would be directed to assist border guards on that border. [ 2 , 3 ]
Katelynas said the border situation is calm at present and that there is no reason for panic, describing the deployment of troops as a preventive measure so that Lithuania is ready and can prevent similar incidents, Kommersant reported. TASS summarised the proposal the same way, describing it as a preventive move. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
According to Kommersant, Katelynas said the need arose after an incident on the Belarus–Latvia border on the evening of 6 October. Citing Latvia's National Armed Forces, Kommersant reported that a group of 20 people crossed into Latvian territory from Belarus, stole surveillance cameras and damaged an electrical distribution box, then returned. No other document in the set mentions that incident. [ 2 ]
Kommersant said army involvement in border protection had already been considered in Lithuania as a way to strengthen patrolling: in July 2021 then prime minister Ingrida Simonyte spoke of using the armed forces amid a flow of illegal migrants from the neighbouring country. The current proposal therefore concerns attaching service members to patrol work as an additional resource rather than automatically transferring all border service functions to them, Kommersant wrote, adding that the specific tasks and order of military participation do not follow from the minister's statement. [ 2 ]
The documents do not record a response from Defence Minister Robertas Kaunasus, and none states that troops have already been deployed. A TASS headline says the Lithuanian army will soon begin guarding the border with the Kaliningrad region, but the accompanying summary gives no detail beyond Katelynas's description of the measure as preventive. [ 4 ]
Why it matters
The request would put Lithuanian military personnel alongside border guards on a NATO and EU frontier with Russia, a step Lithuania has taken before, in 2021. Official and business outlets in Russia reported the proposal without saying whether the defence ministry has agreed or what tasks soldiers would have.
Key facts
- Lithuanian Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas asked Defence Minister Robertas Kaunasus to send military personnel to help border guards protect the border with Russia's Kaliningrad region. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Katelynas said the border situation is calm at present and there are no grounds for panic. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Katelynas described the deployment of troops as a preventive measure. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Katelynas linked the need for the measure to an incident on the Belarus–Latvia border on the evening of 6 October. [ 2 ]
- According to Latvia's National Armed Forces, a group of 20 people entered Latvian territory from Belarus, stole surveillance cameras and damaged an electrical distribution box before returning. [ 2 ]
- Army involvement in border protection was previously considered in Lithuania in July 2021, when then prime minister Ingrida Simonyte spoke of using the armed forces amid a flow of illegal migrants from the neighbouring country, Kommersant reported. [ 2 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Whether the defence ministry has agreed to the request and whether troops have been deployed. None of the documents states a response from Defence Minister Robertas Kaunasus; a TASS headline says the army will soon begin border duties, but no supporting detail is given.
- The specific tasks and procedure for military participation in border protection. Kommersant states that these do not follow from the minister's statement.
- The border incident of 6 October is described only by Kommersant, citing Latvia's National Armed Forces. No other document in the set reports the incident, so it rests on a single source.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- A group of 20 people entered Latvian territory from Belarus, stole surveillance cameras and damaged an electrical distribution box, then returned, according to Latvia's National Armed Forces. [ 2 ]
- TASS reports that Lithuania intends to involve the army in guarding the border with Russia, citing Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas. [ 1 ]
- Kommersant reports the interior minister's request to the defence minister, his description of the measure as preventive and the 6 October incident on the Belarus–Latvia border. [ 2 ]
- Interfax reports Katelynas's call to send military personnel to help border guards on the border with the Kaliningrad region. [ 3 ]
- TASS reports that the Lithuanian army will soon begin guarding the border with the Kaliningrad region. [ 4 ]