Lithuanian and Polish Border Officials to Discuss Easing Checks Amid Temporary Controls

Lithuanian Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas announced Thursday that border officials from Lithuania and Poland are meeting to discuss how to streamline inspections at their common border. Poland reinstated temporary border controls with Lithuania and Germany in July 2025, citing the need to stem secondary irregular migration. Warsaw argues that migrants entering Latvia from Belarus travel through Lithuania before attempting to reach Poland and continue westward.

Katelynas emphasized that both countries should aim to make checks more efficient by focusing on high-risk vehicles and cargo while allowing regular travelers to cross faster. "Trucks and cargo vans can be inspected, but when we see two people traveling for business, holidays or other purposes, or perhaps a single person, the check could probably be faster," the minister told reporters. He raised the issue with Polish counterparts at an informal EU justice and home affairs ministers' meeting in Dublin last week.

In the first half of 2025, Lithuanian authorities stopped more than 1,200 people arriving from Latvia, compared with just over 300 during the same period in 2024. Lithuania has responded by sending teams of border guards to assist Latvia, though it has not provided the full contingent of 100 officers requested by Riga. Katelynas did not rule out that Lithuania could temporarily restore controls on its border with Latvia if secondary migration continues to rise.

Under EU rules, Schengen area countries may temporarily reintroduce internal border controls only in exceptional circumstances when public policy or internal security is under threat.