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On Wednesday night, Chancellor Gabriel Landsberg held a press conference.
Migrants are deceived
On Wednesday, the government announced measures to address the problem of illegal immigrants from Belarus. Mr Landsbergis claims that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also taking separate measures. Currently, the ministry is said to pose three main challenges.
“The first task that we are carrying out is the return of the people who have entered Lithuania illegally from the territory of Belarus to the countries where it would be safe for them to be, where they have come from. There have already been two meetings with the Minister. Turkey’s Foreign Office, the second was today a few hours ago. We talked about the possibilities of cooperation on the issue of return, “G. Landsbergis said at the press conference.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a large part of the migrants arrive in Lithuania through Turkish airports and flights organized by Turkey, therefore, according to G. Landsbergis, Turkey has information about the identity of these people.
“Identifying these people is one of the biggest challenges facing the Government. The people are undocumented, we do not know where they come from, so we cannot return them. Turkey has such information. They must present their passport, visa, data when boarding the plane. “In cooperation with Turkey, we could quickly identify them and therefore demand that they be accepted in the countries where they came from,” says Mr. Lansdberg.
Turkey, according to Landsberg, is ready to cooperate. Specific details will be discussed next week. Landsbergis plans to travel to Turkey.
The Minister also recently met with the Iraqi Foreign Minister. Also speaking of the identification of persons, Lithuania requested the possibility of transferring a consular employee from the embassy in Warsaw or from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad.
For Lithuania, this employee would help to identify persons entering the territory of Lithuania.
“We identify the people we identify, if possible, and we seek to return them through procedural steps. This is important because it reduces the burden on the Lithuanian system and sends a signal to those arriving that Lithuania is not an easy way to get to the EU and stay here. We will do our best to ensure that people who do not have the right to join the EU do not have the right to stay in Lithuania, they do not stay here, ”says G. Landsbergis.
Another direction in which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs works is deterrence. According to the minister, people who enter Lithuania through Belarus are lied to.
“They lie, they make false promises. They are forced to sell their properties, to lay down their lives, not necessarily entirely unsafe or bad, with false promises. They promise to catch them, promising easy access to the EU here. We need to act and we have anticipated an information campaign in the countries with the highest flows. We are spreading the message that there is no easy way to get here, ”explains G. Lansdbergis.
Linkevičius will become the representative of the Government to solve the crisis.
G. Landsbergis announced that the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius will become representative of the Government, solving the crisis in the countries from which migration flows are greater.
“We want to send a message there, both politically and informatively, that it is not worth driving here and that people will not listen to Lukashenko’s false promises,” Landsbergis said.
The third address in which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs works is the request for assistance.
“I want to be happy, we have the promise of Estonia. Ten border guards arrive today and will start working immediately. It is already clear that this is not a Lithuanian problem. 40 people entered Polish territory the night before, 11 people entered Polish territory. Latvian. It is obvious that new travel points are opening up and the flow to the EU is not stopping, “says G. Landsbergis.
Lithuania has requested FRONTEX to increase the number of officials. EC funding was also requested, all EU leadership was informed and solidarity and assistance was sought. Assistance is also requested for the return of people.
“Lithuania showed solidarity, we participated in those redistribution programs even though they were not mandatory. Lithuania accepted refugees. This government has taken in 10 refugees from Italy. We are not on the bad list. Even though the debate took place in Lithuania, there are those who were not very happy, I have always been in favor of solidarity, because you never know when the arrow will be directed towards you and you will need solidarity yourself. I can ask for help from others with courage “, says G. Landsbergis .
Lithuania is reducing the representation of Belarus in the country
On July 7, in response to the continuous, systematic and hostile actions of the Republic of Belarus (BR) towards Lithuania, the Temporary Charge d’Affaires of the BR Embassy was summoned on Wednesday to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic from Lithuania. in the afternoon the Ministry of Foreign Relations.
According to the decision of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, before midnight on July 12 this year, the diplomatic staff of the Belarusian Embassy in Lithuania must be reduced to one employee (for consular functions), there can be no more than 3 employees of the embassy. for administrative and technical functions.
During the meeting, a representative of the Belarusian embassy also protested against the continuing violations of human rights and freedoms in Belarus, the repression against civil society and independent media, demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners and other illegal detainees and the cessation of illegal migration. flows across the border between Belarus and Lithuania.
Lithuania made this retaliatory decision in response to the hostile actions of the Belarusian authorities on July 6 this year, when the Minsk official decided to minimize Lithuanian diplomatic representation in Belarus.
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