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Polish defense minister visits Lithuania to discuss border security and support for Ukraine

03.07.2024 12:00
On Wednesday, Polish Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz is on an official visit to Lithuania.
Polish Deputy Prime Minister, Defense Minister  Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz (C-P) and his Lithuanian counterpart Laurynas Kasciunas (C-L).
Polish Deputy Prime Minister, Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz (C-P) and his Lithuanian counterpart Laurynas Kasciunas (C-L).PAP/Valdemar Doveiko

Together with Lithuanian National Defense Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas, they will tour the border with Belarus and inspect the control point at Padvarionys.

The visit will then move to Vilnius, where an official welcoming ceremony is scheduled at the Ministry of National Defense, followed by bilateral talks between the defense ministers of Poland and Lithuania, and a press conference.

Kasčiūnas and Kosiniak-Kamysz will discuss regional security, strengthening defense, and support for Ukraine. According to a statement by the Polish Defense Ministry, both Poland and Lithuania have faced a crisis at their border with Belarus since 2021. The hybrid operation orchestrated by the Lukashenko regime involves intensified and artificially induced migratory pressure on the EU and NATO borders.

"Illegal migration is being inspired and directed by Belarusian services. Poland and Lithuania have been strengthening their border forces and expanding defense infrastructure since the start of the crisis," the statement read.

Last week, leaders of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland signed a letter urging the European Union to build a defensive line along the bloc's eastern border with Russia and Belarus to protect against military and hybrid threats posed by these countries. The leaders of the four countries stated that the project would require financial support from all EU member states.

Some EU diplomats estimate that such a defense line would cost around EUR 2.5 billion. The call for joint funding of the EU's eastern border defense system complements an earlier Greek-Polish initiative to create a joint air defense system for the bloc.

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Source: IAR, PAP