The Ministry of the Interior has announced an in-depth review of regulations and security measures striving to prevent potential incidents involving provocations or sabotage, or Russian citizens unlawfully disembarking from trains.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, proposals have been prepared for the working group how to step up the security of transit trains.
One of the measures may include the police receiving real-time information about opening of train carriage doors. This would help the police detect exact locations of incidents and respond immediately. Another possibility is placing surveillance systems and other equipment on trains to observe them.
Kaliningrad transit is carried out based on an agreement between the European Union and Russia. It stipulates that Russian citizens intending to travel through Lithuania must not pose a national security threat, be on the list of wanted persons and must have valid documents and visas or a special permit allowing transit. The list of passengers is received in advance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and risks are assessed before passengers arrive by train.
The 21-year-old Russian citizen, who unlawfully disembarked from the train in Lithuania on 17 June and disappeared, was not found by border guard helicopters, drones and officers with dogs. The train was traveling from Adler (Russia) to Kaliningrad region (Russia). The penalty for violating transit rules may vary from a warning to a fine of EUR 70-300. The man would also be expelled from Lithuania. The police have launched administrative proceedings.