At the beginning of October, an exercise was held in Lithuania, during which they practiced how the country would act in the event of an emergency situation, such as a war.
Several tens of Vilnius residents were evacuated to Kaunas, Ukmerge, other cities, the population warning system and the readiness of institutions were checked.
You should bring your own
Then it was stated that if a very big crisis were to arise, people would have to be transported from Lithuania, and the main evacuation route from Lithuania would be through Poland.
“My Polish colleagues and I are talking about this. But, of course, political solutions would also be needed,” said Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Center.
True, it is recognized that there are no concrete agreements and plans with the Poles.
“We hope to be able to be included in that activity. We are talking with Poland, which is perhaps one of the most important destinations for the entire evacuation,” said Interior Minister Vladislavas Kondratovičius.
“We bring to the Lithuanian-Polish border, and people transfer to European-gauge trains, which belong to the Polish Railway Company,” said Gediminas Šečkus, director of business and resilience of “Lietuvos geležinkelių”.
What did the Polish Ministry answer?
“Delfi” turned to the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration and asked whether there are talks about the possible evacuation of Vilnius residents to Poland, as well as what is Poland’s position regarding the possibility of accepting Lithuanians.
In the received answer, there is no promise to accept Lithuanians, nor is it stated that such a possibility would not exist.
The Ministry replied that Poland and the Baltic countries took another step to ensure the safety of the inhabitants of the Baltic Sea region: at the end of October, the interior ministers of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia signed a memorandum on the protection of civilians.
“This memorandum was the result of several weeks of negotiations, including the agreements reached between the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration, Marcin Kierwiński, and his Lithuanian counterpart,” the Polish ministry said.
According to her, the memorandum envisages a close cooperation system for the entire region in the event of a threat – if one of the states attacks, the others would react immediately and provide the necessary assistance, this would also happen in cases of sabotage or other hostile actions.
“This agreement will also include joint exercises related to quick response to any threats from the east,” the ministry said. “Poland supports the Baltic countries facing the threat of Russian aggression. According to the document, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will prepare their citizens for possible crises.”
Conversations are underway
Mindaugas Bajarūnas, head of the Strategic Communication Department of the Ministry of the Interior (MIA), explained to Delfi that with this memorandum, Poland engages in closer regional cooperation, preparedness for crisis situations and coordinated response to possible threats.
“This is a cross-border agreement to cooperate, exchange information and so on,” he said.
Commenting on the question about the possible evacuation of Lithuanian residents to Poland, the representative of the ministry indicated that talks are currently underway with the countries of the Baltic region regarding the evacuation of residents.
“Evacuation of residents is basically a regional issue that cannot be limited to the borders of one state. Lithuania plans to propose the conclusion of an agreement on planning the evacuation of residents, according to which the parties to the agreement would prepare an appropriate evacuation plan or plans,” he said.
M. Bajarūnas informed that the plan for the mass evacuation of residents from Lithuania’s border municipalities bordering Russia and Belarus to the depths of the country is currently being completed.
In cooperation with representatives of the Lithuanian army and the Ministry of National Defense, 27 evacuating and 24 receiving municipalities were identified.
“In order to make it possible for residents to leave unsafe areas, it is planned to announce the evacuation of residents as early as possible before the beginning of a possible threat,” said the representative of the Ministry of Interior.
According to him, the highest state aid and priority during the evacuation of residents will be given to the evacuation of persons with disabilities, families with young children, elderly persons, persons living in care institutions, and patients from unsafe border areas with Russia and Belarus.