News&Events

Lithuanian people will see the first columns of military vehicles in the territory of Lithuania in the nearest while. It will be the beginning of preparation for important, and particularly significant in security terms to Lithuania and the region, multinational exercises about to begin in Lithuania and the Baltic states. Movement of vehicles will be of low intensity which will reach the peak on June 6-9 when the 2^nd Cavalry Regiment of our NATO ally, the US Army, will be redeploying: roughly 3 thousand troops and 1.500 units of combat equipment will be moving from Germany to the Baltic states and Poland.     

Main direction of arrival - via the Suwalki Corridor   

This largest ever military equipment movement in Lithuania will be conducted via Kalvarijos check post, and another one of smaller scale - via Lazdijai cordon.  From Kalvarijos cordon the military equipment will take road E67 (Via Baltica) to go across the entire territory of Lithuania to Latvia, exercise locations, mainly the Adazi Training Area, part of the column will go to Estonia.  The US columns which will take part in the exercise in Lithuania will move from Kaunas district to exercise locations in Lithuanian Armed Forces' training areas. On June 18-21 soldiers will be returning to main bases from exercises sites.  

Lithuania residents are urged to take into account their journeys may take longer because of intense military equipment traffic if they are planning to travel on the abovementioned days, i.e., June 6-9 and June 18-21, via Lazdijai and Kalvarijos border-crossing posts.  Movement of the columns is carefully planned by representatives of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and other Lithuanian state institutions. On the territory of Lithuania the columns will be divided into smaller ones of up to 30 vehicles, the most intense movement is planned for the dark part of the day, every column will be escorted by Lithuanian Military Police teams  for regulating traffic and ensuring safety, in order to minimize the inconvenience to civilian residents. 

However, Lithuanian citizens planning to travel (particularly to Poland) are invited to take into account the given dates and chose another time for crossing the Lithuanian-Polish border, or at least not to travel during the dark part of the day when the military equipment movement is the most intense.

Second direction of allied troops' arrival - via Klaipėda

Allied troops will deploy to take part in three exercises via Klaipėda: BaltOps, national Exercise Thunder Strike, and multinational Exercise Saber Strike. Those arriving to train in the latter two will move in military equipment columns through Klaipėda City to exercise sites both in Latvia and Lithuania. Roughly 400 units of military equipment is planned to be brought via Klaipėda Seaport to Lithuania until June 2. Movement of military vehicle columns through Klaipėda will begin as soon as May 25.   

Specific information on the movement through Klaipėda

Main route of military column movement: KALNUPES - MINIJOS - BALTIJOS AV. Streets across JAKU roundabout from where the columns will proceed to exercise sites in Lithuanian training areas and to Latvia. The military columns will use the same route to come from the exercises on June 18-21 to the territory of Klaipėda Seaport.

Its worthwhile noticing that the military vehicles will deploy in Lithuania over the coming two weeks, however, the leaving duration is three days, therefore brief traffic disruptions in Klaipėda are possible during thef leaving period. Klaipėda residents will most likely see the first military column next week.

The Lithuanian Armed Forces are preparing intensely in Klaipėda, just like for the movement of forces from Poland. They closely collaborate with Klaipėda City Council, Klaipėda Seaport Authority, and other institutions. Military vehicles will not move across Klaipėda during morning and evening peak hours. The columns will not be bigger than of 30 vehicles and each will be escorted by military police.   

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Sail Conference will be held in Klaipėda on June 1-3 ahead of multinational Exercise BaltOps 2018 due on June 4-15. Ships from roughly 40 NATO and partner countries will sail in for the event. Roughly 4,000 soldiers are expected to arrive in Klaipėda during the said period of time.

A number of multinational exercises of particular importance to the security of Lithuania and the region will take place here in May-June: Saber Strike, BaltOps, Steadfast Cobalt, Trojan Footprint.  This year's largest national exercise Thunder Storm 2018 will take place in June. All of the exercises are strictly defensive in character and oriented at ensuring the allies remain sovereign. Deployment of allied troops into the region and transit via Lithuania is an opportunity to train Host nation Support:  ensure movement via planned roads to designated locations and to provide the required support.