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Lithuania has faced a significant increase in illegal migration in recent months, the number of migrants has already exceeded 3,000, and as a result, Lithuania has declared an emergency situation.
The country’s officials take the position that the increase in migratory flows is an organized action of the Minsk regime against Lithuania, as migrants are airlifted from Baghdad to Minsk.
“We are in contact with the Iraqi government to better control flights to Belarus and readmit Iraqi citizens who want to return voluntarily or without international protection,” wrote EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs Ylva Johansson in a letter to ministers. of the EU.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday during talks with the Iraqi foreign minister that he had discussed “ways to curb the growing number of Iraqi citizens traveling illegally from Belarus to Lithuania.”
“This is a concern not only for one member state, but for the EU as a whole. We look forward to the support of Iraq,” Borrell wrote on Twitter.
Earlier this month, Baghdad promised to investigate the alleged smuggling of people to Lithuania and to establish a joint committee with the EU to discuss migration issues.
A representative of the bloc stated on Thursday that a “large part” of the migrants who flow into Lithuania probably do not have the right to request asylum in the European Union.
Brussels has threatened to extend the sanctions imposed on Belarus last year for cracking down on protests after the controversial presidential elections.
Last month, the EU took criminal action against key sectors of the Belarusian economy following the crash landing of a Ryanair plane by Minsk and the arrest of opposition blogger Raman Pratasevich.
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