On Wednesday, the Lithuanian government supported the proposal of the Ministry of the Interior to extend the state of emergency declared in Lithuania in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine until September 15.
The decision to extend the state of emergency until and including 15 September, proposed by the Ministry of the Interior and supported by the government, has yet to be approved by the Lithuanian Parliament.
In the current emergency, it is valid until June 30.
The draft decision states that the state of emergency is due to the unprecedented mobilization of Russian and Belarusian forces in military aggression against neighboring Ukraine.
The draft decision also states that the war started by Russia in Ukraine has caused a humanitarian crisis and a refugee crisis, as well as a threat to the security of NATO, the European Union and other European Union countries, including Lithuania.
“Potential hybrid attacks and provocations pose a serious threat to society,” the draft decision added, adding that these threats could not be averted “without restricting the exercise of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution and the Emergency Law and without certain emergency measures”.
The Ministry of the Interior urges that the ban on retransmission of Russian and Belarusian television programs in Lithuania, gathering to express support for the Russian war in Ukraine, and other restrictions be maintained.
The state of emergency in Lithuania was declared on February 24, when Russia launched a new invasion of Ukraine. It was valid until April 20 at 11:59 p.m. and was extended from April 22 at 7:00 a.m. to June 29 at 11:59 p.m.
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