Lithuania deploys ARMED MILITIA to guard CHRISTMAS TREE and enforce tough new Covid-19 measures

Grinches beware! Paramilitaries have been deployed to protect a Christmas tree in the center of Vilnius. But, as they’re also there to enforce social distancing measures, it might be coronavirus that ends up stealing Christmas.

According to local news site Delfi, the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, a state-backed voluntary militia, has been deployed in the capital as part of “the intensification of urban patrols to ensure that the population complies with requirements and does not congregate.” 

A statement from the group adds that “seeing the growing numbers of people in crowds, and responding to a request for police support, yesterday we took thirty riflemen to the central city spaces and several shopping centers.” In a picture shared on social media, masked volunteers in camouflage gear can be seen guarding Vilnius’ central Christmas tree, this year a high-tech affair bedecked in panels of blue lights. It was not immediately clear whether they had their rifles with them to fight off any potential present thieves.

On Monday, Lithuania announced that it would extend its national lockdown until the end of the year, cutting through the traditional Christmas period. In a statement, acting Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said that “if people precisely kept to rules, we would not need to tighten them.” However, the government resisted calls to ban all but essential shopping, as well as contact between households. 

The country has reported 77,000 cases since the start of the pandemic in March, with 673 people dying from Covid-19.

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