The Lithuanian government has banned Russian and Belarusian citizens from owning weapons. The parliament in Vilnius on Thursday approved corresponding changes to the gun law, which should come into force on April 1, 2023.
These should help prevent armed sabotage troops in the event of unrest, according to parliament. Lithuania borders Russia’s Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia’s ally Belarus. The Baltic state sees the war in Ukraine as a direct threat to its own security.
340 casualties
Therefore, the amended gun law, which prohibits Russian and Belarusian citizens and citizens of Lithuania from carrying weapons, is intended to remove at least one possible threat. According to parliamentary figures, 294 Russian and 46 Belarusian citizens are currently allowed to own or carry weapons. A total of 340 people are affected by the amended law.
In concrete terms, they must sell their weapon or hand it over to the police by April 2024 and the weapon license will be confiscated. If those affected do not comply with the demand, their weapons will be handed over to the state, the parliamentary statement said.
Combat drones purchased from the US
Lithuania has massively increased its military spending and equipped its armed forces since the war in Ukraine. This week, representatives of the Department of Defense signed a purchase contract for about 45 million euros for combat drones from the US. “We are the first country in the world after the United States to purchase Switchblades 600,” Defense Secretary Arvydas Anusauskas said. The combat drone makes it possible to destroy enemy tanks and other armored vehicles at a distance of up to 40 kilometers. The Lithuanian army would not have had this capability before.
German troops, being reinforced to protect NATO’s eastern flank, are currently sparking a domestic political debate. While the government in Vilnius assumes that a full brigade with varying personnel will be stationed in Lithuania, the German government has repeatedly stated that it will deploy a combat-ready brigade, partly stationed in Lithuania and partly in Germany, which can be moved within a few days. The agreement between the two countries can now be revised.
Source: Krone
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