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Why Lithuania sent police to guard its Polish power link
Summary
A look back at the security measures Vilnius ordered as the Baltic states prepared to leave the Russia- and Belarus-linked grid.
What prompted Lithuania to put police on guard at its electricity connection with Poland? On 8 January 2025, Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas deployed officers to secure the link, responding to reported attempts to disrupt the planned decoupling of the Baltic states' power systems from the grid they shared with Belarus and Russia.
The Polish link was central to that plan, and the decision placed physical protection of the infrastructure under police responsibility. The deployment was a response to the reported disruption attempts, not a general security measure, and it came as the decoupling was still being prepared.
A separate sanctions move the day before
On 7 January 2025, the day before the Lithuanian announcement, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Hungarian cabinet minister Antal Rogán over alleged corruption. The Treasury accused him of using his position to secure financial benefits for himself and political allies.
The two developments were unrelated, but both were reported within a day of each other and concerned governments in Ukraine's wider neighbourhood.
