Poland and Lithuania are working on a plan for mass evacuation of the population in case of war

Poland and Lithuania are working on a plan for mass evacuation of the population in case of war Victoria Kulzhenko

Poland and Lithuania are preparing an evacuation plan in case of war/Collage by Channel 24

Russia has repeatedly threatened Poland and the Baltic states with war. Therefore, Poland and Lithuania have begun working on a plan to evacuate people in the event of a conflict.

The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, Tomasz Simoniak, said that the law on civil protection and civil defense will also contain a plan for the mass evacuation of the population and provisions for the creation of secure government communications. A similar plan was previously discussed in Lithuania.

The main issues have already been resolved

According to Simoniak, among other things, 5-6 billion zlotys will be allocated for the construction of shelters. He also added that the main issues of this project have already been resolved. The head of the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs explained that it remains to describe the financial and personnel nuances, as well as relations with local governments.

We are focused on the fact – and this is the main basis of this project – that 0.15 percent of GDP from the part allocated for national defense goes to issues related to the protection of the population, – Simoniak emphasized.

Simoniak added that the law will also include provisions on the creation of secure government communications.

When asked whether the Polish government plans to adopt a mass evacuation plan following Lithuania's example, Simonyak assured that such a plan is part of the Law on Civil Protection and Civil Defense. According to him, the main perspective of working on this project is the rules of war in Ukraine, because these are no longer abstract situations.

However, he did not undertake to predict when exactly the bill would be adopted. It is known that the draft law on civil protection and civil defence defines that the civil protection system in Poland consists of government bodies and organisations that perform civil protection tasks, as well as civil protection resources.

What was stated in Lithuania

Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė discussed the mass evacuation of the population in the event of a war with representatives of the ministries of defence and transport, the National Crisis Management Centre and other interested institutions.

According to her, the responsibilities and tasks of various departments were agreed upon, and specific data on the capabilities and needs are still awaited from local governments.

Back in early July, the Lithuanian Interior Ministry sent a written request to local governments for evacuation and asked them to a month and a half to assess the possibilities and necessity of its implementation. In particular, they had to submit the number of residents who are planned to be evacuated, routes, transport and existing contracts for its use, as well as the required number of people to carry out the evacuation and the funding that is lacking.

Lithuania relies on the experience of Northern European countries. They have an evacuation plan both in case of war and in case of other situations. After the preparation is complete, the plan must be approved by the government.

It will also be tested during civil defense exercises at the state level.