Evacuation plans from the Baltic states to Poland and the issue of border controls

"The plans to evacuate people from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Poland include at least one million people in the event of an escalation of the threat from Russia," says Lithuanian Minister of Internal Affairs Martynas Katelynas.

As the head of the Polish Ministry of Interior and Administration, Marcin Kierwiński, added, Polish evacuation plans will now be updated after the major civil defense exercises in Lithuania, which ended on Saturday.

It is known that the Podlaskie Voivodeship would bear the greatest burden of accepting refugees. The head of the Ministry of Interior and Administration emphasized that these scenarios are still being refined. "We must prepare for various types of crisis situations. Lithuania is a natural path for the Baltic states to the European Union, so we must also be prepared for this," Kierwiński noted.

A refugee center is being established in Łoździej, near the Polish border. Their use was tested during recent maneuvers in Lithuania.

Poland secures its borders

A separate issue raised during the meeting was control on the Polish-Lithuanian border and counteracting illegal migration.

In the summer, there were several kilometers of traffic jams and long waiting times at border crossings. According to the Lithuanian minister, after talks between both sides, the situation improved. Inspections are to be carried out more efficiently and queues are currently not observed.

"Control has been clearly reduced, the journey is faster," said Katelynas, quoted by the Lithuanian LRT portal. Marcin Kierwiński emphasized that the controls have not been tightened. They are conducted in a more gentle, selective manner and are based, among others, on: on statistical analysis.

The Polish minister announced that the measures will be lifted when the grounds for their application no longer apply. At the same time, he assessed that there were currently reasons to keep them in force.

The authorities in Warsaw decided to extend border controls with Lithuania and Germany for another six months - until March 30, 2027. According to the Polish Ministry of Interior and Administration, the aim is to limit illegal migration and strengthen security.

Katelynas noted that the scale of the so-called secondary migration is not large. In his opinion, however, the Polish authorities fear that the sudden abolition of controls could result in a renewed increase in uncontrolled migrant flows.

Poland introduced temporary control on the border with Lithuania in July 2025. According to data from the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs, since then, nearly 1.3 thousand people have been refused entry to Poland on the border with Lithuania. people.