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President Asta Skaisgirytė’s Senior Adviser and Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė claim that Belarus is waging hybrid pressure and war against Lithuania.
“Recently, the Belarusian regime has significantly increased the hybrid pressure on Lithuania, and one of the views on this is the increase in illegal migration,” Skaisgirytė said on Friday evening after the president’s meeting with Minister A. Bilotaitė and the head of the State Border Guard Service. Rustas Liubajevs.
At that time, A. Bilotaitė stated that one of the parts of the hybrid war is the illegal migration flows.
“It is obvious that a hybrid war is being waged against Lithuania, and illegal migration flows are one of the means,” Agnė Bilotaitė said during a press conference on Friday after meeting with the president.
“We detained 52 illegal immigrants last day and we have registered a large number of illegal immigrants in the last five months. Compared to last year, that number has doubled, “he said.
The Minister emphasized that all possible institutions were involved in protecting the border with Belarus.
“It is not necessary to activate our wall cladding plan at this time. We really have all the necessary capacities, all the institutions are involved and we really handle the situation,” said A. Bilotaitė.
“In a difficult situation, when it gets worse, we really have Plan A, Plan B and Plan C. And we are as prepared as possible for possible challenges,” he emphasized.
According to the minister, the cover-up plan will be activated and the army will be used in case illegal migration flows increase significantly.
“If we see that migratory flows are growing exponentially, drastically, and sometimes there will be other criteria that will suggest that the situation has reached its maximum level, we will combine this border coverage plan, which is updated. All the possibilities and preparations have been coordinated with the army, ”said A. Bilotaitė.
He mentioned that efforts will also be made to reduce the attractiveness of illegal migration to Lithuania. After all, now most illegal people apply for asylum in Lithuania and then go to the West.
It is planned to prohibit asylum seekers from leaving their place of residence for some time.
“We have agreed that we will seek to restrict this restriction of movement from the foreign registration centers until the identity of the people has been established and other procedures have been carried out, then the movement will not be allowed,” said A. Bilotaitė.
According to her, after the arrests of the previous day, the Foreigners Registration Center in Pabradė will be filled, so places will be enabled where other refugees will have to be accommodated.
“The alternatives are that there is a dormitory at the Border School with places and that is being considered. As an alternative, when we no longer have a place to house these people, it is agreed with the army, it has a city of 300-seat tents with all the infrastructure: kitchen, water and other things necessary for people to live. As soon as the signal is given, we will make decisions and that town of shops will appear ”, said the minister.
In addition, the implementation of the Lithuanian-Belarusian border surveillance systems is accelerating. They currently control 38 percent. border. This will require a total of 38 million. Some of the funding is already planned for this year’s budget review.
“The wall covering surveillance system is our priority, and the rate at which the wall has been covered so far would probably have only been done after 11 years. Our goal now is to cover the border in 2022, ”said A. Bilotaitė.
According to SBGS, around two hundred five hundred illegal immigrants, mostly Iraqi citizens, have already tried to enter Lithuania from Belarus this year. That’s three times more than in all of 2020.
In late May, Aliaksandr Lukashenko told the Belarusian parliament that Minsk had so far detained “drugs and migrants” at the border with Lithuania, and that it would not do so following the international reaction to the forced landing of a passenger plane and the imposition of new sanctions. “Now you will eat them and catch them yourself,” he said.
Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė said during the NSGK meeting this week that Belarusian officials may be involved in transport activities for illegal immigrants from Belarus. According to her, the increased flow of illegal immigrants is a deliberate policy of the regime against the Lithuanian state.
On Friday, President Gitanas Nausėda met with the Interior Minister, A. Bilotait jefe, and the head of the State Border Guard Service, R. Liubajevs. At the meeting, they discussed measures to strengthen state border protection on the border with Belarus, as the number of detained illegal immigrants increased.
Aliaksandr Lukashenko, the regime’s leader, said last week that Minsk, which had so far detained “drugs and migrants” at the border, would not do so after Ryanair’s crash landing sparked discontent from the international community.
“Now you will eat them and catch them yourself,” he told the Belarusian parliament.
This week, Interior Minister A. Bilotaitė stated that, compared to 2020, the flow of illegal immigrants has doubled for some time.
According to the State Border Guard Service (SBGS), around a hundred and a half illegal immigrants, mostly Iraqi citizens, tried to enter Lithuania from Belarus this year. That’s three times more than in all of 2020.
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