Lithuania plans to evacuate up to 400,000 people living on the borders with Russia and Belarus. Emergency shelters for 300,000 people are being set up in schools and churches in the city of Kaunas.
Readiness was also demonstrated through simulated exercises in Vilnius, albeit with only a few hundred participants. Estonia wants to resettle a tenth of its population, with the state providing support to half of the inhabitants of the city of Narva.
In Latvia, it is estimated that a third of the population could leave their homes and seek emergency shelter.
The evacuations are to take place via secondary routes so as not to hinder the movements of the military. Although no relocations across borders are planned, the countries are also prepared for this possibility.
Russia declares that it is not planning an attack on NATO. According to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys, this is not about scaremongering, but about sending a signal to society that the state is prepared.
(reuters, lup)