LRT English Newsletter – July 31, 2026.
With land routes fortified above ground, Belarusian authorities have apparently decided to take irregular migration underground. Literally. In the past week, Lithuania's border guard service (VSAT) has unearthed at least two unfinished tunnels dug from Belarus, both believed to be intended for irregular migration across the border.
VSAT chief Rustamas Liubajevas revealed the finds are far from isolated. According to him, migrants' tactics have shifted toward increasingly using tunnels or caves, and border guards had identified "tens of places" where tunnels are almost certainly being dug. Liubajevas said the trend has intensified this year, though the first tunnels surfaced last year, and noted migrants had already burrowed their way through the same playbook on the Belarus-Poland border before it tunnelled its way into the Lithuanian sector.
Lithuanian officials aren't buying that Minsk is in the dark on this. Liubajevas argued the tunnels' proximity to the border, plus the need to supply timber for structural supports, makes it implausible that Belarusian border guards aren't aware – or actively lending a hand – even if migrants themselves are likely doing the digging.
Border guards will likely need to shore up their defences with vibration sensors and tunnel-detection gear more commonly associated with conflict zones or drug-smuggling corridors. With two incidents surfacing in under a week, expect this to keep popping up as Vilnius's new government tries to get to the bottom of its migration strategy.
MORE IMMIGRATION AND BORDER CONTROL
– "For Lithuanians only" doesn't fly – a real estate agent got a formal warning after telling a foreign applicant an apartment was off-limits to non-Lithuanians (a decision made by the property owner, they say). Regulators couldn't prove nationality was the actual reason for the rejection, but saying it out loud was a violation enough. According to research, foreigners in Lithuania routinely face issues when looking for housing.
– Work permits running low: Lithuania's about to hit its ceiling on non-EU hires. Miss the cutoff, and hiring gets pricier: once the quota's gone, permits only get approved for salaries at least 1.2 times the national average (with some exceptions). Logistics firms are already sounding the alarm: the International Transport and Logistics Alliance says the quota is based on stale data out of step with actual demand, and warns transport companies may struggle just to keep current operations running, let alone grow.
– Lithuania wants to make life harder for Russians and Belarusians who back the war. New rules would ban pro-war performers and athletes, block property purchases near military and other strategic sites, as well as require a signed anti-war pledge just to attend a concert or conference. Target date: January 1.
TURBULENCE ON AIRBALTIC
Lithuania is quietly planning for a scenario of the Baltic region’s signature carrier scaling back or leaving the country altogether. Talks have begun following Latvia’s finance minister's announcement that due to financial difficulties, airBaltic will likely need to shrink. The carrier posted a €44.34 million loss last year despite revenue growth, and Fitch has put the airline on negative watch.
Meanwhile, Lithuania’s Transport Minister Juras Taminskas is threading the needle – no panic, but no denial either. By late July, he said he'd seen no sign airBaltic planning to cut flights or exit Lithuania, but he's still meeting with Lithuanian Airports to map out a response if it does. airBaltic currently runs 21 routes from Vilnius and two from Palanga. Taminskas says other carriers like LOT and Finnair could fill the gap.
THE CIA CASE THAT JUST WON’T DIE
The country has been accused for nearly 20 years of secretly hosting a CIA prison near Vilnius, where terrorism suspects were held and interrogated between 2004-2006. Lithuania has never officially admitted this happened, but the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) keeps ruling that it did. In 2018, 2024 and most recently – this July, when the court awarded €30,000 to Saudi detainee Al-Nashiri and ordered Lithuania to seek US assurances he won't face execution.
Each time, Vilnius pays up but insists nothing new needs investigating.
After the latest loss, the Justice Ministry said it would fully implement the ruling, but paired that with officials saying no further digging was needed since no such prison ever existed, and the president suggesting even the death-penalty request to the US could look like meddling in another country's affairs.
But while the government calls the matter closed, opposition leaders want a new parliamentary probe, arguing three straight ECHR losses can't be squared with the authorities insisting there's nothing to find.
At the same time, Lithuania's intelligence ombudsperson also declined to open a fresh investigation, citing the same existing inquiries, while leaving the door open to informal talks between agencies.
RUSSIAN MEDDLING
Lithuania keeps finding potential Russian-linked exposure in places you’d assume would already have been locked down. Here's a sample of what’s been on the news just this week.
A tax-free shop serving foreign troops at Lithuania's Rukla base is stocked by German company Gebr. Heinemann – a firm previously flagged for supplying luxury goods to shops tied to the Lukashenko regime in Belarus, and to Russia before that. Lithuania's Defence Ministry is now reviewing the arrangement, even though Heinemann's operations have already been cleared by multiple security reviewers.
Speaking of sanctions: around 20 Mere supermarket stores in Lithuania went dark practically overnight after owner Sergei Shnaider was added to the EU's 21st sanctions package for materially supporting actions that undermine Ukraine's sovereignty.
That might not be the end of the story, though – days later, a new chain called Ola popped up in Šiauliai with near-identical products and slogans, prompting Lithuania's economy minister to ask financial crime investigators to check for hidden ownership ties. It's a scenario that's already played out in Poland, where a sanctioned Mere resurfaced as several rebranded companies.
And then there's the old-fashioned spying. Lithuanian prosecutors are investigating a citizen who allegedly made contact via Telegram and, acting on instructions from intermediaries linked to the Russian intelligence, gathered information on military infrastructure. That included photographing the Lithuanian military, a radar manufacturer, and cargo movements at Vilnius Airport.
EDITOR’S PICKS:
– Thrown out over a political stance or something else? Learn about this Belarusian man’s complicated asylum dispute.
– Your relative called asking for help? That might not be them.
– Gen Z is ruining alcohol and replacing it with other, healthier options
– Ever visited a wooden 19th-century synagogue? This is your chance.
– This Lithuanian artist turned Tate Modern's Turbine Hall into a playground.
– Kauno Žalgiris made history on Wednesday by securing a historic place in the league phase of a UEFA competition.
– And farewell to the first prime minister of independent Lithuania, Kazimira Prunskienė.
Written by Agnė Toločkaitė
Edited by Benas Gerdžiūnas
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