Lithuania deploys police to guard its power link with Poland
A look back at the security move taken in Vilnius on 8 January 2025, ahead of the Baltic grid decoupling from Russia and Belarus.
What did Lithuania do to protect its electricity link with Poland? On 8 January 2025, Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas deployed the police to secure the connection.
The step was a response to reported attempts to disrupt the planned decoupling of the Baltic states' power systems from the grid they shared with Belarus and Russia. The Lithuanian government treated the Poland link as needing police protection while that separation was being prepared.
A separate sanctions decision the day before
On 7 January 2025, a day earlier, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Hungarian cabinet minister Antal Rogán for alleged corruption. The Treasury accused him of using his position to secure financial benefits for himself and political allies.
Both developments, reported within a day of each other, concerned governance and security questions in countries neighbouring Ukraine's region.
