Minister V. Kondratovičius meets with the Ambassador of the Czech Republic A. Opata
Minister of the Interior Vladislavas Kondratovičius met with the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Lithuania, Aleš Opata. During the meeting, the parties discussed issues of bilateral cooperation between Lithuania and the Czech Republic, priorities of the internal affairs system, and the security situation in the region.
“Close cooperation among European countries is particularly important. In today’s geopolitical situation, it is essential to make every effort to ensure that European Union countries remain united and support one another,” emphasized Minister of the Interior V. Kondratovičius.
The minister noted that Lithuania is also facing violations of its airspace by contraband balloons. This has posed risks to civil aviation and caused significant inconvenience to passengers. In addition, pressure from illegal migration remains high. In 2024, 1,002 attempts to illegally enter Lithuania from Belarus were prevented, and in 2025 the number has already reached 1,652.
As a result, the state of emergency related to migration flows declared in 2021 remains in force, and national sanctions against citizens of Russia and Belarus have been extended until May 2, 2026. “When faced with hostile and aggressive neighbors, we see no grounds for easing the measures in place — on the contrary, we will strengthen the protection of the external border and, if necessary, take additional actions,” the minister V. Kondratovič emphasized.
Due to strengthened measures at Lithuania’s external border, part of the instrumentalized migration flows is being redirected to neighboring countries. In 2025, compared to 2024, secondary migration from Latvia to Lithuania increased by 138 percent. This is one of the reasons why Poland reinstated internal border controls with Lithuania starting July 7. Lithuania maintains close cooperation with the institutions of Poland and Latvia in order to manage the situation.
The meeting also addressed other hybrid threats originating from unfriendly states. Russia and Belarus are using propaganda and disinformation to increase tensions within European societies, while malicious physical actions and provocations are also being recorded.
“These developments show that the scale of hybrid threats is growing and becoming increasingly dangerous. We see that our region is being used as a kind of ‘testing ground,’ and similar actions may later be repeated in other European countries. Therefore, a unified European Union response is necessary — long-term security is possible only when resilience becomes a shared European commitment,” the minister said.
Lithuania is committed, together with all EU partners, to seeking a common understanding of threats and ensuring that the European Union remains safe, resilient, and united.