Latest Embassy News
United States Donates Equipment to Lithuanian State Border Guard Service
19 April 2006
Media opportunity: Media representatives are invited to attend a ceremony at 10:30am on 20 April 2006 at the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service Headquarters, Savanoriu 2, Vilnius. The POC for the ceremony at the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service is Mr. Rokas Pukinskas, Tel. 271 9310.
On 20 April 2006, U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Thomas Kelly and Lithuanian State Border Guard Commander-in-Chief Saulius Stripeika will participate in a signing ceremony to announce the United States’ donation of equipment to the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service and the Lithuanian Department of Customs.
The donation includes several all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), night-vision goggles, and tracking kits. The United States provides this equipment as part of the U.S. Export Control and Border Security (EXBS) Program.
The Export Control and Border Security Assistance Program, administered by the Department of State, Department of Defense and U.S. Customs, is designed to provide assistance to government agencies involved in border security and investigations.
The program has been operating in the Baltic region since 2000. With a presence in more than 45 countries, the program offers assistance to strengthen and secure borders by providing state-of-the-art equipment and by developing law enforcement skills in the fight against terrorism and to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
The EXBS Program for Lithuania continues to conduct formal training seminars both locally and in the United States in order to provide border guards and customs officers with advanced techniques necessary to detect nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.
Over the last several years the EXBS Assistance Program has equipped the Border and Customs Services of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia with various types of inspection and detection equipment, including border sensors, metal detectors, vehicles, computer equipment, and X-ray units.
