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On Wednesday morning, a Polish Airlines plane landed at Vilnius airport, bringing 14 families of translators, a total of 50 people, to Lithuania.
Its evacuation operation began on Friday: a team of ten Lithuanian soldiers with a representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was sent to Kabul to carry it out. They gathered interpreters and their families for several days at the Kabul airport and arranged a flight to Lithuania with the Polish government.
Almost a hundred and a half more Afghans will fly
In the coming days, it is planned to transport about a hundred and a half more people from Afghanistan to Lithuania, says the Minister of National Defense, Arvydas Anušauskas.
“We brought together all the people with whom we had contact. (…) Now all the deportation problems are being solved, ”he told LRT radio on Wednesday.
Lithuania sees to it that translators and others helping Lithuanian soldiers are deported from Afghanistan.
According to the minister, almost a hundred people should arrive in Lithuania in the next few days.
A. Anušauskas said that he could not yet say what state aid will be used to transport these Afghans.
A. Anušauskas stated that the Afghans will be temporarily housed in the Raseiniai district municipality until asylum procedures are completed.
“On the other hand, these people, who also have Lithuanian state awards, are another category of people, of course they will be granted asylum because they have every reason for that, and then they will be free people, capable of living anywhere.” in the European Union, “said the minister.
The result of the operation is not yet known.
“Lithuania has participated jointly and in solidarity in the NATO mission in Afghanistan, and we are also contributing to the evacuation of aides in the event of a change in circumstances. Lithuanian diplomats are working countless hours these days to rescue our Afghan aides.
The unity and coordinated action of the Allies is more important than ever in this situation. We are especially grateful to Poland and our other partners, as well as to our diplomatic service and missions that have helped secure agreements with other countries and the smooth crossing of the territories of other countries, “said Foreign Minister Gabriel Landsbergis.
“We do not yet know the end of this complex operation, but I can already say today that the landing of the Afghan people in Lithuania is the result of strong and constant cooperation between Lithuanian institutions and allies. It is important to remember that a lot of work has been done. invisible and continues to do so not only the team in Kabul, but also soldiers and civilians in Lithuania, ”says Lieutenant General Valdemaras Rupšys, commander of the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
Lithuania has been carrying out the mission in Afghanistan for almost 20 years, and so far it has activated NATO Article 5 for the only time in its history. In 2002-2021, about 5,000 Lithuanian soldiers served in Afghanistan, participated in the US-led Operation Peaceful Peace, and carried out two major NATO operations: the International Security Assistance Force (2002-2014) and the Strong Support Force (2015-2021).
A total of 115 translators had employment contracts with the Lithuanian Armed Forces in Afghanistan, some of which received Lithuanian state awards.
Last week, six citizens of this country were transferred to Lithuania from Afghanistan: an Afghan who worked as a driver at the European Union Representation in Kabul and his relatives.
Earlier, it was announced that some 100 translators who had assisted Lithuanian soldiers and their families were waiting to be deported to Lithuania, fearing that the Taliban might try to deal with them.
Control of Afghanistan in mid-August, with the departure of the last American troops, was taken over by the Taliban, who occupied the capital, Kabul. Since then, getting out of Afghanistan has become difficult.
