Lithuania’s authorities have developed a plan to protect cultural heritage in the event of war and plan to test it later this month.
The parliamentary Committee on Culture discussed the plan in a closed meeting on Wednesday.
“The plan is in place; it was presented and received approval,” Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC), told reporters after the meeting.
“We have a mobilisation drill scheduled for September 23–26, which includes measures for the preservation of cultural heritage,” he added.
MP Vytautas Juozapaitis, the committee chair, described the plan as “impressive”.
“What has been presented is impressive, with all possible scenarios considered,” he said. “I think the institutions, first of all, the NKVC are performing their functions flawlessly.”
Juozapaitis noted, however, that the plan is not public, so he could not disclose specific details.
According to Vitkauskas, cultural heritage items were inventoried over the summer, priorities were set, and actions were planned for both sudden and anticipated attacks.
Juozapaitis said that different protection measures are planned for immovable and movable cultural assets.
“As far as movable heritage items are concerned, they are registered; there are several hundred thousand of them, of which slightly fewer than 100,000 are of special value and would be given priority,” he said.
Vydas Dolinskas, director of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, said that Lithuanian museums are learning from Ukraine’s experience and helping the country to protect its heritage. They are also considering which foreign locations would be suitable for safeguarding Lithuania’s treasures.
Dolinskas noted that natural disasters and fires can also cause emergencies.
“While you can theoretically prepare for anything, in practice, you do not always know the nuances that might occur,” he added.
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