Lithuania seeks help to spot foreign spies with hotline

VILNIUS, Lithuania – Lithuania has opened a 24-hour hotline for citizens to report potential foreign spies in an effort to increase public awareness of potential threats.

A spokeswoman for Lithuania’s state security agency, Aurelija Katkuviene, says the hotline was “a response to increasing cyberattacks and other threats to the national security.”

Katkuviene says “every citizen can now contribute actively” by calling the hotline — which is being promoted on national television.

She said Friday that citizens in the past have helped detect people “who acted against Lithuania.”

Although neighbouring Russia, which once occupied the Baltic country, is not mentioned in TV ads, Lithuania has in recent years deported several Russian diplomats suspected of espionage.

Lithuanians also have been convicted for spying for Belarus, which authorities say is sharing information with its Russian counterparts.