Lithuania: Authorities develop wartime heritage protection plan

Lithuanian authorities have developed a plan to protect the country’s cultural heritage in the event of war, BNS reports. The National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) presented the plan to the culture committee of the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, in a closed meeting. NKVC director Vilmantas Vitkauskas said that the plan would be tested during a national mobilisation exercise on 23-26 September 2024. NKVC inventoried items of cultural heritage items over summer 2024. MP Vytautas Juozapaitis, chairman of the parliamentary culture committee, said that slightly less than 100,000 movable items of cultural heritage were of special value. Vydas Dolinskas, director of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, said that Lithuanian museums were learning from Ukraine’s experience and considering foreign locations to safeguard Lithuania’s national treasures.