The first shipment of radars purchased during the Radarom crowdfunding campaign in Lithuania is expected to be delivered to Ukraine next week.
"The procedures for purchasing and sending the radars to Lithuania took about a month. This time the Polish border [officials] took a much more formal approach to the transit," Jonas Ohman, head of Blue/Yellow, a Vilnius-based NGO that organises the delivery of the radars to Ukraine, told BNS in a comment on Friday.
Earlier this week, Blue/Yellow said that all 16 radars had reached Lithuania and that the first three were on their way to Ukraine.
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According to Ohman, the NGO had "all the necessary documents and EU licences, which have always been sufficient for transportation", but Polish officials this time asked for an additional licence covering shipments specifically on Polish territory.
The formalities are expected to be completed by May 2 at the latest, with the radars to be delivered to Ukraine next week.
Deputy Economy and Innovation Minister Karolis Žemaitis told BNS on Friday that Economy and Innovation Minister Aušrinė Armonaitė had also mediated in the process.
She "personally and directly" asked Poland's Minister of Economic Development and Technology Waldemar Buda last week that "the Polish authorities look into this matter promptly", according to the vice-minister.
"Since there are at least several of these institutions, our request to the Poles was that they look into this in a friendly, prompt manner," Žemaitis said.
"To my knowledge, those permits have already been issued," he added.
The Radarom crowdfunding campaign, co-organized by LRT, Blue/Yellow, Laisvės TV, 1K Fondas and Stiprūs Kartu (Strong Together), ran from January until February 24, the first anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The campaign raised 14 million euros, with the money being used to buy 12 regular fixed radars and four mobile radars for special tasks. Lithuania held training for Ukrainian troops to use the radars in March.
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