It was barely 3:30 pm and the sun was already setting in late January on the dark waters of the Niemen, a river that originates in Belarus, flows through Lithuania and into the Baltic Sea. Its calm, shallow waters flow through vast expanses of fields and forests, marking the 100-kilometer border between Lithuania and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. On the north bank, the small town of Panemuné, population 200, faces Sovetsk, on the south bank. On one side fly the yellow, green and red flags of Lithuania, by the yellow and blue of Ukraine, on the other the white, blue and red flag of Russia. Between the two, the Queen Louise Bridge, built in the 19th century on imposing stone piers, and now blocked by several rows of “dragon’s teeth.”
These large triangular concrete blocks were deployed by the Lithuanian army in September 2024 to prevent the passage of Russian tanks in the event of an attempted invasion. Passage between the two sides is still possible on foot; and that afternoon, a few pedestrians were waiting at the border post as a few snowflakes fell. No one could imagine that Moscow would try anything as long as its army was occupied in Ukraine. But what about afterward? “We don’t think Russia is ready to enter into military conflict with NATO, but if a peace agreement is reached and international sanctions are lifted, it will be able to rebuild its military power. We need to be prepared for this,” said Marius Cesnulevicius, the Lithuanian president’s defense adviser. “For this, we need weapons, ammunition and NATO troops on our soil,” he said in impeccable French, stressing the importance of a “credible deterrent.”
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Publish date : 2025-02-16 18:00:00
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