The enemy has historically come from the east, says Mayor Valdas Benkunskas at a press conference on Wednesday.
NATO and EU country Lithuania is, like many other European countries, in the midst of a major buildup as a consequence of Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine.
Benkunskas emphasizes that they do not want to cause panic with the plan.
Our goal is clear: to have a plan, to have coordination between institutions, to know who is responsible for what and to have trust in our defense forces. With the hope that this plan will never need to be activated, he says.
In the fall, evacuation exercises will be held in Vilnius. The city is only three miles from the border to Moscow-loyal Belarus, which Russia used as a springboard during the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
According to the authorities, it should be possible to evacuate Vilnius' 600,000 inhabitants within 48 hours. The plan can also be used in the event of natural disasters or a nuclear power plant accident in Belarus.
