Earlier on Wednesday, the cabinet approved amendments to laws governing state and service secrets, meaning that the bill will now be considered by Lithuania’s legislative body, the Seimas.

Drafted by the Defense Ministry, the bill was necessitated by intelligence warnings claiming that attempts had been made to recruit Lithuanians working with sensitive information.

“The bill aims to protect employees of state institutions who have been granted permission to work with or have access to classified information from hostile activities of foreign services towards them,” said the Defense Ministry.

If adopted, the bill would impact around 56,000 people.