The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (VSAT) is taking over 500 G-36 automatic rifles from the country’s armed forces.
Border guards are to receive almost 1,700 more of these weapons from the military in 2022, the VSAT said in a press release on October 4.
The G-36 rifles will replace border guards’ weapons that do not meet NATO’s standards, it added.
According to VSAT’s Commander Rustamas Liubajevas, the weapons that border guards expect to receive until the end of the year will cover slightly more than half of their needs, adding that more than 1,000 automatic rifles should be purchased next year.
Currently, most of the VSAT officers are armed with Russia-made Kalashnikov-type automatic rifles.
Lithuania’s border protection force consists of around 3,500 officers. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
