Lithuania's re-established Coast Guard Frontier District will help border guards respond to threats more promptly, Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė said on Friday.
“The decision to re-establish the Coast Guard Frontier District was made to significantly improve our ability to respond quickly to new challenges,” she told reporters while visiting the Neringa municipality.
The plan is to re-establish the Coast Guard Frontier District early next year, according to the minister.
The unit will operate in the border area along the borders with Russia and Latvia, in territorial waters, along the coastline, in seaports, in airports located within its operational area, and in the Curonian Lagoon.
The Interior Ministry says the Coast Guard Frontier District will have migration and criminal intelligence units and will ensure a more effective fight against smuggling and illegal migration.
It will also contribute to the protection of strategic facilities, including the Klaipėda LNG terminal, which is located within its area.
The Coast Guard Frontier District operated within the State Boarder Guard Service (VSAT) before it was merged into the Pagėgiai Frontier District in early 2020. The Coast Guard Division was then set up within the Pagėgiai district for the protection of the state border in the territorial sea and the Curonian Lagoon.
Rustamas Liubajevas, the VSAT chief, said that the decision to dismantle this unit was aimed at saving and redistributing funds, but “failed to consider all aspects”.
“The security situation was different both at the Russian border and at the Belarusian border,” he said.
Lithuania shares a 255-kilometre land border with Russia, as well as 18 kilometres along the Curonian Lagoon, and 22 kilometres along the Baltic Sea.
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