Lithuania to deploy troops along border with Russia's Kaliningrad after Latvia incident
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Lithuania's Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas called for troops to be deployed to the country's border with Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave, in a statement on Oct. 7.
The request came in response to an incident in neighboring Latvia the day prior, as well as the overall security situation in the region amid escalating tensions between Russia and NATO regarding Kaliningrad.
"I have appealed to the Defense Minister, Robertas Kaunas, to have Lithuanian Armed Forces units deployed to help border guards protect the border with the Kaliningrad region," Katelynas said in a statement on social media.
The move is a preventative measure in response to signals that Russia may announce mobilization, he said.
The requested deployment follows two security breaches at the Latvian border on Oct. 6. First, armed guards escorted groups of illegal migrants across Latvia's border with Belarus. Shortly after, masked individuals once again crossed the Latvia-Belarus border, stealing equipment before returning.
The Lithuanian minister said that there was no reason to panic and that the situation at the border is calm.
"Deploying soldiers is a preventive decision, so that we are prepared and can stop similar incidents," he said.
The move comes a day after Lithuania's parliament took the first step toward lifting the country's ban on deploying nuclear weapons on its territory.
The measure would repeal Article 137 of Lithuania's constitution, which currently prohibits weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases on Lithuanian territory.
NATO has expanded its presence in the Baltics in recent months, with a German military brigade permanently stationed in Lithuania, as security concerns over Russian provocations have grown in the region.
Kaliningrad, officially part of Russia, is an exclave on the Baltic Sea, sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania. The region has become a flashpoint between Russia and NATO.
In a warning to NATO in September, Russia claimed that it was "ready to use the entire arsenal of forces and capabilities at its disposal, including nuclear weapons, in order to defend its territory should NATO countries undertake any attempt aimed at isolating the Kaliningrad Region from the rest of the country."
Russian President Vladimir Putin invoked the threat of nuclear force again in remarks the following day.
"Can we be sure this weapon will never be used? Of course not," Putin said about nuclear weapons in a speech on Oct. 1. "We're all familiar with the saying: If a gun is hanging somewhere on the stage at the beginning of a performance, on the wall, it's bound to go off eventually."
