Lithuania renews the agreement with Latvia on border ambulance services
On Thursday, 11 July, in Joniškis, the Minister of Health Arūnas Dulkys and his Latvian counterpart, the Minister of Health Hossam Abu Meri, signed a renewed agreement between the two countries on the provision of ambulance services in the border area. The agreement stipulates that in the event of mass disasters, the countries will provide mutual medical assistance.
The agreement stipulates that the competent ambulance services of Latvia and Lithuania will cooperate with each other in providing knowledge, information, human and technical resources to provide medical assistance to the population of the border areas affected by mass disasters.
The Parties ratified the Agreement on Border Ambulance Services as early as 2019. In Lithuania, the reorganisation of the ambulance system was implemented in 2023, which made it necessary to renew the agreements with Latvia on the provision of ambulance services. The inter-state agreement will be implemented on the Lithuanian side by the National Ambulance Service.
Ratification by the Seimas is required for the renewed agreement to enter into force. This is expected to be done in the next autumn session of the Seimas. Once ratified, the two countries' ambulance services will conclude a supplementary agreement specifying the exact procedures for requesting and providing assistance, as well as the procedure for registering and redirecting calls received from the border area.