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Poland and Lithuania are working on an international evacuation plan for civilians in the event of a major crisis or military threat.
If necessary, the plan would allow some residents of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to be moved across the Polish border.
Vilmantas Vitkauskas, the head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre, has announced that work on the proposal was already under way and that representatives of Lithuania and Poland were analysing procedures, logistics, and infrastructure capacity.
A detailed plan is to be drawn up once Poland and Lithuania reach an appropriate agreement.
The preparations are being carried out as part of Lithuania’s “Vyčio Skliautas 2026” exercises, launched on 25 September to test its national mobilisation system and institutional cooperation in a crisis situation.
The drills will run until 3 October. One of their practical components is testing procedures for the evacuation of the population.
Around 3,000 officials, officers, and representatives of institutions, local authorities, companies, and non-governmental organisations are taking part in the exercises, along with about 1,000 volunteers. A delegation of around 20 people from various Polish institutions has also arrived in Lithuania.
During the drills, systems for warning residents, the organisation of assembly and registration points, transport, and the movement of evacuees through successive regions are being put to the test. Poland is also involved in work related to planning cross-border evacuation.
The Lithuanian authorities have stressed that the aim of the exercises is to develop and test procedures for dealing with crises. The exercises are training activities and do not mean authorities are expecting an imminent threat.
The Suwałki gap
The Suwałki gap, a strip of territory linking Poland and Lithuania – and therefore connecting the Baltic states with other NATO allies and the rest of the European Union – is of particular importance to the plan.
The area contains the main land routes between Lithuania and Poland. In the event of a serious crisis, the region could prove to be crucial for the movement of troops and supplies as well as for the evacuation of civilians.
“The Suwałki gap is of huge importance, both militarily and logistically,” Vitkauskas said.
Poland prepares to receive evacuees
Poland is also preparing for the possibility of receiving evacuees from the Baltic states.
In September, representatives from Lithuania and Latvia visited Poland on a study trip focused, among other things, on mass evacuation, civil protection, and the organisation of reception and accommodation for evacuees.
Talks were attended by representatives of Polish services and institutions responsible for security and civil protection.
Lithuania has already drawn up its own evacuation plan for residents in the event of a military threat or crisis.
One of the main evacuation routes runs from Vilnius towards the Polish border. Authorities in Poland’s Podlaskie Voivodeship are preparing the region for a potential role as a transit corridor for residents of the Baltic states.