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Lithuania and Poland prepare joint civilian evacuation plan in case of Russian attack
Lithuania and Poland are developing a joint plan for the evacuation of parts of the Baltic countries' populations in the event of war, according to Vilmantas Vitkauskas, director of the National Crisis Management Center, Delfi reported .
Vitkauskas said the two countries are currently assessing procedures, as well as the logistical and infrastructure capabilities of both states. The evacuation plan itself will be finalized after the sides reach an agreement.
“We also have the international aspect of evacuation: what will happen if it becomes necessary to evacuate across the border a certain portion of residents from Lithuania, as well as neighboring Latvia and Estonia. In such situations, when a war threat gradually escalates in the exercise scenario, the border regime typically changes. Border controls are introduced to enable mobilization and to prevent people in certain key positions from leaving the country, so that they remain here and fulfill their duties,” Vitkauskas said.
He added that, in the event of an invasion, large crowds would be expected at border checkpoints as people attempt to evacuate. “Lithuania and Poland must very clearly evaluate all procedures, and this is now our main task,” Vitkauskas said. “We will review all the procedural shortcomings, record them, and then a joint plan will be drawn up based on the agreement between the two countries,” he added.
Vitkauskas also noted that Lithuania already has a domestic evacuation plan, and an international plan is now being developed. Poland and Lithuania are reviewing logistics, transport links, road accessibility and traffic flows.
This Friday, Lithuania will begin a national mobilization system exercise, Svod Vytisa, which will involve about 3,000 officials and thousands of volunteers. The drills are set to test how the government would operate in the event of deteriorating security, disruptions to energy and communications systems, mass evacuations, the reception of allied forces, and the uninterrupted provision of critical services.
