European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced increased funding for Lithuania to enhance monitoring of its border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, amid heightened geopolitical tensions. During a joint press conference with Lithuanian President Gitan, Nauseda, von der Leyen emphasized Lithuania’s role as a frontline state facing ‘Russia in Kaliningrad,’ accusing Moscow of applying geopolitical and economic pressure. The EU plans to triple investment in migration and border management and significantly boost military spending in the next long-term budget.
Lithuania has received a €357 million EU program for border management and visa policy, which has seen regular additional funding. The bloc’s financial resources have been directed towards surveillance capacities for tracking trains between mainland Russia and Kaliningrad, as well as the purchase of a helicopter. Brussels has proposed to triple investment in migration and border management in the next long-term EU budget and increase military spending fivefold.
In July, the EC unveiled a long-term €2 trillion ($2.33 trillion) draft budget for 2028-34, with a massive increase in military-related spending. Bloc member states have agreed on allocating €800 billion ($937 billion) until 2030 as part of the EU’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative. Rail traffic from Kaliningrad to the rest of Russia must pass through Lithuania. Soon after the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Vilnius announced that it would block the transit of goods that fall under EU sanctions on its territory. Moscow accused Lithuania of mounting a blockade of Kaliningrad region. The situation was partially resolved, after the rail connection was reopened.
Moscow has dismissed Western claims that it harbors aggressive plans toward EU countries as ‘nonsense,’ and accused officials in Brussels of fearmongering to justify inflated military budgets. The EU’s decision to bolster border monitoring and military spending comes as part of an ongoing effort to address security concerns in the region, following the escalation of tensions with Russia over Ukraine and the broader geopolitical situation.