Lithuania has reduced the level of physical protection for Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who has lived in Vilnius since 2020, in response to the actual security needs, according to Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė.
“The protection has not been removed. It has been adjusted according to the level of threat,” Ruginienė told reporters Wednesday.
“The services are doing an excellent job, they assess the threat level daily and model the type of protection needed accordingly. Tsikhanouskaya continues to have protection, but it is adapted to today’s realities,” she said.
LRT.lt reported Tuesday that Tsikhanouskaya’s protection was transferred from the Dignitary Protection Service, which protects Lithuania’s top state officials, to the Criminal Police Bureau. The bureau provides protection not as for a head of state, but for a person who may objectively face certain threats.
LRT also reported Wednesday that Tsikhanouskaya’s office in Vilnius temporarily suspended operations following the change. The information was confirmed by her diplomatic adviser, Dzianis Kuchynski.
Since arriving in Lithuania in 2020 after Belarus’s disputed presidential election, Tsikhanouskaya had been under round-the-clock guard by the Dignitary Protection Service.
Remigijus Motuzas, chair of the Lithuanian parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said the decision to reduce Tsikhanouskaya’s security level was made after a reassessment of the risks. He told LRT TV Wednesday that the move was coordinated between the Dignitary Protection Service and the government chancellery.
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