Some 450 new officers are expected to join Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT) and guard Lithuania’s border with Belarus over the next two years, Rustamas Liubajevas, the VSAT chief, has said.
“The total number of additional officers over the next two years would be about 450, and they would be assigned to protect the border with Belarus,” he told members of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence on Monday.
Additional officers would be recruited in 2024-2025, according to Liubajevas.
“We have looked at our manning capacity. It would be difficult to organise training and fill posts over a year. That is why we have foreseen two years. We will start next year, when the budget is approved, and finish next year,” the VSAT chief said.
In his words, the recruitment of such a number of officers would be significant as the VSAT now has a total of 4,300 positions, including both officers and civil servants.
Before entering their service, new officers should complete a three-month induction course, Liubajevas said.
Lithuania’s border with Belarus is also the external border of the EU. Since 2021, it has been facing a flow of irregular migration, which, Lithuanian officials say, has been orchestrated by the Minsk regime.
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