Lithuania steps up screening of arrivals from Belarus, Russia’s exclave

June 29, BPN. Lithuania’s Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė has instructed the State Border Guard Service to intensify checks of individuals arriving to Lithuania from Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad region.

Border guards will also be checking more carefully documents and visas of those traveling to other countries via Lithuania, the interior ministry’s press office reported.

Lithuania will be ready to close its state border should the threat level in the region increase, Bilotaitė stressed.

On June 26, the Lithuanian State Defense Council agreed to step up security at Lithuania’s eastern borders ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius. Potential Wagner Group presence in Belarus may pose more threats, Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda warned.

The Council also instructed intelligence services to focus on Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad region in light of growing threats of illegal activities at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. Nausėda also called for additional personalized screenings not only for Russian but also for Belarusian nationals.

On June 23, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin called for an armed rebellion to oust the Russian defense minister.

He later halted the mutiny as a result of agreements reached with Alaksandr Łukašenka and other officials. Vladimir Putin let him go to Belarus. The Belarusian ruler confirmed Prigozhin’s presence in the country on June 27.