Lithuania has announced plans to build a fence to boost security on its border with Russia’s Kaliningrad enclave.
The move comes amid heightened tensions in the Baltic region, where Nato is deploying extra troops and Russia has installed nuclear-capable missiles.
The fence will cover about 135km (84 miles) of border, from Vistytis to the Neman River, which runs to the Baltic Sea. No barrier exists there currently.
Lithuania says it aims to prevent any Russian “provocations” and smuggling. Lithuanian Interior Minister Eimutis Misiunas said one such provocation was the incident on Estonia’s border in 2014, when an Estonian security official was detained by Russia. In August 2015 Russia jailed Eston Kohver on spying charges. But he was freed the following month in a “spy swap” with Russia.
Like its Baltic neighbours, Lithuania was alarmed by Russia’s March 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.
Russian help for pro-Russian insurgents in eastern Ukraine further fuelled their concern about “hybrid” warfare – that is, acts of aggression like infiltration of special forces and cyber attacks on critical infrastructure.
Soldiers in unmarked uniforms took over Crimea and were nicknamed “little green men”. Only a year later did Russian President Vladimir Putin admit that Russian forces had been involved.
In 2015 Poland announced that it would build watch towers along its border with Kaliningrad.
Linas Kojala, director of the Eastern Europe Studies Centre in Lithuania, said smuggling of cigarettes and alcohol into the EU from Kaliningrad was a problem.
But the main motivation for the fence is fear of “little green men” infiltrating, he told the BBC. Russians can cross Lithuania’s border easily at the moment, though it is illegal to enter without a visa, he said. “There is a lot of talk in Lithuania now about hybrid scenarios, like what happened in Ukraine,” he said.
In 2015 Lithuania reinstated conscription, which provides about 3,000 extra personnel for the armed forces annually, he said. The total number of service personnel is about 20,000.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.