Joint mobilization exercises of Poland and Lithuania: tests of evacuation procedures

On Friday, mobilization exercises began in Lithuania, during which, together with Poland, among others, tested procedures for evacuating people across the border. The Suwałki Isthmus is of great importance both in military and logistic terms, and the involvement of our Polish colleagues is extremely important. (...) We have to go through the entire procedure and face all potential challenges, said the head of NKVC, emphasizing that Poland's participation in the exercises will provide them with a "higher level".

“An evacuation plan already exists.”

Vitkauskas also announced that "a large delegation of about 20 people from various institutions in Poland" will come to Lithuania. We will analyze all procedural shortcomings, prepare a list of them, and then a jointly developed plan will be created, noted the head of the NKVC.

He added that an internal evacuation plan already exists and work is now underway on an international one. The exercises will last until October 2 and are the largest annual test of the Lithuanian mobilization system. They include scenarios related to, among others: with cyberattacks, disinformation, sabotage, energy and communications disruptions, and protection of critical infrastructure.

On Saturday, ten local governments will host practical evacuation exercises. The following will be carried out, among others: in Vilnius and local governments on the border with Belarus, in case of a threat of invasion from this direction. On Tuesday, procedures for responding to incidents involving energy infrastructure and undersea cables will be tested, and a mobilization exercise will be announced on Wednesday.