Lithuania halves train fares and sends troops to Russian border, while Estonia braces for new wave of migrants

Lithuania's government is applying a temporary 50% discount on local train tickets for the second time this year, aiming to offset the effect of high fuel prices. The discount took effect on Friday and will run until the end of the year. In neighbouring Estonia, another Baltic state, a court has sentenced a man who transported illegal migrants, and authorities expect further migration pressure.

Discounts on trains and buses

The discount is provided by "LTG Link", the passenger arm of Lithuanian Railways (LTG). A similar two-month measure ran in spring. According to acting LTG head Arūnas Rumskas, about a million people used the reduced fares, roughly 200,000 travelled specifically because of the lower price, and around 35,000 rode a train for the first time. This round will last almost three months. The government plans the same discount for intercity buses from 1 November to the end of December, though the exact date depends on amendments to be passed by the Seimas, Lithuania's parliament. The train discount is expected to cost the state about 2.8 million euros and the bus discount about 3.15 million euros.

Troops at the Kaliningrad border

Since Thursday, the Lithuanian army has deployed around 100 soldiers to help the State Border Guard Service protect the border with Russia's Kaliningrad region. The deployment is set for two weeks and may be extended. President Gitanas Nausėda cited intensified hybrid operations in EU and NATO countries, and pointed to an incident in Latvia this week in which at least 20 illegal migrants tried to cross the Belarusian border. Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas called the move preventive and said the threat level at the border has not risen.

Vilnius trial and migrants in Estonia

On Friday, the Vilnius Regional Court began hearing the case of six people accused of plotting to murder public figure Valdas Bartkevičius and Bashkir national movement leader Ruslan Gabasov. The case will be heard behind closed doors.

The Pärnu County Court sentenced a 63-year-old Bulgarian citizen to one year and ten months in prison for organising illegal migrant entry into Estonia; he will then be deported. Since July, Estonian police have detained about 320 foreigners who entered illegally and opened roughly 50 criminal cases.