Lithuania’s Minister of the Interior Agne Bilotaite has sent a request to EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson regarding financial support for a project to enhance border protection with Russia. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lithuania plans to modernize and upgrade monitoring systems on the border with Russia.
«We are facing serious security challenges, especially from hybrid threats, so our priority is to strengthen security along Lithuania’s 275-kilometer border with Russia. We count on the support of the European Commission in addressing this important task,» the letter from the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs states.
Lithuania estimates the cost of modernization to be around 16 million euros, with an additional 65 million euros needed by 2030 for updating border control systems.
Previously, Lithuania received 9.3 million euros from the EU for a similar project on the border with Belarus, and overall, since the start of the migration crisis, the European Commission has allocated approximately 100 million euros to Lithuania for strengthening the border with Belarus.
Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have called on the EU to build a defensive line along the border with Russia and Belarus to protect the EU from military threats and other harmful actions from Moscow.
