Lithuania to spend €15 million upgrading border surveillance with Russia
Photo: Lithuania will spend 15 million euros to modernize surveillance systems on the border with Russia (Getty Images)
Lithuania plans to spend 15 million euros to modernize electronic border surveillance systems at four border stations with Russia. The funds were provided by the European Commission, LRT reports.
According to the Lithuanian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the European Commission, having evaluated the applications submitted by the member states, has allocated €15.4 million in EU support for the modernization of electronic border surveillance systems.
The systems will be modernized at the Rokiškis border station (22.4 km long), Vištytis border station (34.4 km), Viešvilės border station (30.6 km) and Plaškiai border station (25.9 km).
The State Border Guard Service of Lithuania plans to start modernization in 2025 and complete it in 2027.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs noted that in its application to the European Commission, Lithuania also asked for money for nine other border stations, but no funding was received for the modernization of the systems.
The European Commission has included these applications in a reserve list of projects under the program to strengthen border surveillance capabilities on the borders with Russia and Belarus, for which the EC plans to allocate funding when additional EU funds become available.
In total, in December, the European Commission allocated €170 million to six EU member states to strengthen border surveillance on the borders with Russia and Belarus. The goal is to help them fight the flow of illegal migrants.
In October, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense tested anti-tank structures intended to strengthen fortifications near the border with Russia's Kaliningrad region.
