NATO has turned Vilnius into a fortress defended by advanced weaponry to protect President Joe Biden and other alliance leaders meeting next week, only a few miles away from Lithuania's razor-wire-topped border fence with Russian ally Belarus
Sixteen NATO allies have sent a total of about 1,000 troops to safeguard the July 11-12 summit, which will take place only 151 km from Russia itself. Many are also providing advanced air defence systems which the Baltic states lack.
But for the region with total population of about 6 million people, this is not enough to sustain large militaries, invest in their own fighter jets or advanced air defence. Poland and Germany sent helicopter-enhanced special operations forces. Others are sending measures to deal with any potential chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear atacks.
"Do you think Wagner or Belarus could attack Lithuania, which is in NATO? They don't have the guts. NATO is NATO, and we feel ourselves safe because we are in NATO. Why would we fear those Belarussians?", said Edvard Rynkun, 67, in Kaniukai, a village 1 km from Belarus. "You know where you are situated geographically, and you know pretty well where the threat is coming from", said Lt Col Steffen Lieb, commander of the Patriot deployment.
Thousands of Middle Eastern migrants have crossed at the Belarus border in 2021, in an effort Lithuania and the European Union said was orchestrated by Minsk, a charge it denies. The numbers have since subsided.
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