Lithuania finalizes national evacuation plan amid rising tensions
Work on the nationwide evacuation plan will be completed at the beginning of October. Lithuania's Minister of the Interior, Agne Bilotaite, emphasized that the government's top priority is the safety of the population in the face of the war in Ukraine. "Sabotage in the region has become the new reality," she admitted.
Bilotaite mentioned that each municipality has a ready evacuation plan, and the current work concerns the nationwide plan. She admitted that the steps taken are related to the war in Ukraine, which has been ongoing for over two years.
"Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, Baltic countries have become targets of hybrid and disinformation attacks, and sabotage in the region has become the new reality," Bilotaite noted. "We must remember that we are at the forefront, which is why today the protection of the population has become the priority of our program," she added.
Cooperation of the Baltic States
Lithuania's minister indicated that the efforts to protect the population will be carried out jointly with other countries in the region. To this end, the Baltic countries will apply for funding from the European Union.
"The time has come to combine our capabilities and act in a coordinated manner both at the regional and EU levels. Yes, it is very costly, but we must discuss the possibilities of combining our efforts and obtaining appropriate support from the EU," she explained.
Defense line on the border?
Agne Bilotaite also called for the assessment of potential threats at the European Union level to "better understand the dangers and provide means for the protection of the population."
The leaders of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have approached the European Union with a plan to build a defensive line along the border with Russia and Belarus to protect European countries against military threats and other "harmful actions" by the Kremlin. As Reuters noted, the emergence of defensive infrastructure on the eastern border aims, among other things, to limit the threats of hybrid warfare, which includes disinformation, cyberattacks, economic pressure, and attempts to provoke a migration crisis.
Source: "Moscow Times"
