Lithuania is deploying troops to reinforce its border with Russian exclave Kaliningrad, officials announced late Wednesday, citing concerns over potential military mobilization in Russia and renewed hybrid threats.
The decision follows a high-profile security breach on the border between Latvia and Belarus this week, said Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas.
Defense Minister Robertas Kauna confirmed the deployment of border security, saying it was a “preventive” step in response to “signals of a possible increase in aggressive foreigners due to possible mobilization in Russia.”
Kaunas said around 100 soldiers would help guard the Lithuanian-Russian border over the next two weeks, according to the Elta news agency.
“The order is being executed immediately,” Kaunas wrote on Facebook
Katelynas and Lithuania’s border security service stressed that the situation along the Kaliningrad border remains calm, with zero illegal border crossings from neighboring Belarus over five consecutive days.
On Tuesday, Latvian authorities reported that masked and armed individuals escorted a group of 20 irregular migrants to push through the Belarus border into Latvian territory. The masked operatives damaged electrical equipment and stole border surveillance cameras before retreating back into Belarusian territory.
Also this week, the Kremlin warned that Lithuania’s preliminary parliamentary vote to lift a constitutional ban on hosting foreign nuclear weapons marked a dangerous escalation of regional tensions.
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