Advance warning to residents: life in Vilnius will be paralyzed for a few days next summer
The NATO summit in Vilnius will undoubtedly become the most prominent event in Lithuania in the coming year.
About the meaning of this event, however, it is necessary to note that the fact that Vilnius was chosen can show NATO’s concern for the eastern flank.
This is also a great recognition for Lithuania, but with it comes a great responsibility – how to organize the event flawlessly and ensure the safety of its visitors as much as possible.
Lithuanian officials emphasize that this is priority no. 1 and saving at the expense of security is not going to happen.
However, attracting several thousand visitors and journalists, the summit will affect the rhythm of life of ordinary townspeople and city guests.
“Victory celebration”, that’s what Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis called the upcoming meeting of the Alliance’s leaders a few days ago, as well as the alliance’s call to strengthen support for Ukraine.
The head of Lithuanian diplomacy emphasized that the choice of Vilnius as the venue of the event shows that the Alliance is sending a message about the importance of ensuring the security of the Baltic region.
“City life can be paralysed”
Officials of the country assure that despite the strict security requirements, efforts will be made to ensure that the event “disrupts” Vilnius residents as little as possible.
However, police admit that city life may be paralyzed on July 11-12.
“According to other countries that have held summits of this or similar nature, city life can be paralyzed,” – 15 minutes said the press representative of the Police Department, Ramūnas Matonis.
“There will definitely be traffic restrictions, it will not be possible to enter certain places,” he added.
The specific places where traffic and pedestrian movement will be restricted have not yet been announced, it will become clear as the event approaches, but it can be assumed that there will be restrictions around the main venue of the event, the Litexpo exhibition hall, and around the hotels where the leaders of the NATO countries will stay.
As a result, the Lithuanian police now suggest that residents plan to spend that day outside the country’s capital.
“Specific information will be provided to residents closer to the event, but if you have vacation plans for that week, we suggest you choose a place other than Vilnius,” said a police representative.
According to him, security and public order are ensured by the “abundant” forces of the police and other institutions.
“We will work at the highest level of readiness,” emphasized R. Matonis.
It is already clear that during the meeting, repair work will be stopped on the streets of Vilnius, and no other events will be allowed in public places at that time.
Also, on those days, due to the big meeting, visitors are as few as possible, so it can be difficult.
After all, there may not be enough hotels in Vilnius – Kaunas is also being looked at.
What is the cost of the event?
According to current calculations, it is planned to allocate 38 million for the organization of the meeting. euros.
This amount is about 8 million. higher than before – this happened due to rising energy prices.
However, the budget allocated for the meeting, which, according to Lithuanian officials, is much smaller than that of Poland and Spain, which organized the meeting, will be approved in the Seimas together with next year’s budget.
The “lion’s share” of the money should be allocated to the adaptation of the main venues of the event – the Litexpo exhibition hall – in accordance with the current NATO requirements.
It is true that the budget can still change, but there is no intention to revise it, because “we do not want to save at the expense of security”.
Officials emphasize that so far there are no threats that would interfere with the organization of the event, but the services are preparing for various scenarios – in order to ensure the safety of the leaders, the possibility of involving not only their own officers, but also colleagues from abroad is being considered.
Lithuanian officials half-heartedly hint that Vilnius will be perhaps the safest place in the world in those days.
Main topics
So far, the agenda of the event, which should be attended by guests and media representatives, is not completely clear, but Lithuanian officials mention the topics of the meeting.
According to them, Lithuania’s main goal at the meeting is to bring the war-torn Ukraine closer to NATO, as well as to ensure “realistic” security defense plans for the region, and at the same time for Lithuania.
Among other things, the meeting is expected to include Sweden and Finland as full participants for the first time, possibly confirming the organization’s new secretary. Recently, it has been said that Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė is among the candidates being considered for NATO Secretary General.
For the time being, Sweden and Finland, which have followed a policy of neutrality for many years, are blocked from joining NATO by Turkey and Hungary, who still have not ratified the accession documents of these countries to the Alliance.