Bilotaitė: Most of the arrested rioters are related to criminal structures, this is part of a hybrid attack

Minister A. Bilotaitė stated that press conferences would be held every week to obtain the latest information. Speaking of this week, the minister provided the most relevant figures.

“The situation has stabilized, but we cannot relax, we must be prepared for various scenarios. But that decision, which was made on August 2, pays off. Some 200 immigrants were denied entry to Lithuania this week. The total number is 1340 people. And 44 people were admitted for humanitarian reasons “, – A. Bilotaitė presented the statistics.

The Minister said that as the situation stabilizes, capacity is assigned to the migration and return processes.

The first person to volunteer to return to their home country was reported on Thursday.

Another 14 people are ready to do the same and 11 are in the process of doing it.

“The news is that the processes have begun, that is the beginning. We will keep pace so that illegal immigrants are returned to their countries of origin, ”said A. Bilotaitė.

The Minister also stated that both Latvia and Poland are feeling the intensification of the illegal immigrant movement. 320 people were detained at the Latvian border and 515 in Poland following the Lithuanian decision.

“Therefore, the coordination of actions is important,” said the minister.

“We have been icebreakers in this situation, our experts go to neighboring countries and share information and experiences,” said Interior Minister A. Bilotaitė.

A. Bilotaitė explained that security is being strengthened at the Rūdninkai facility, where illegal immigrants are staying.

“When there was an incident on Tuesday night, we stepped up our forces, contacted the Military Police, officials from the prison department and they gave us that support. Currently, the objects are protected by the Public Security Service, as well as by shooters, ”said the minister.

The capacity, he assured, will be the necessary one.

“All incidents create a situation where sometimes we may have to redistribute forces from other objects, so sometimes there may be more complex situations, but the capabilities will be what will be needed,” said A. Bilotaitė.

Lyubayev: trends are optimistic

General Rustamas Liubajevas, commander of the SBGS, participated in the press conference.

“The events and trends of the last days are optimistic. It can be said that the situation on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border is currently under total control, ”said the general.

However, he emphasized that the forces on the border are still reinforced.

“Trends in neighboring countries were mentioned. We are in constant direct contact with the border guards of Latvia and Poland. We not only keep in touch with our Polish colleagues, exchange information, but also coordinate joint actions on the internal border with the countries. neighbors and we organize joint actions in each area of ​​responsibility on the Lithuanian-Belarusian and Polish-Belarusian borders, ”R Liubajev pointed out.

According to the official, contacts and meetings are also taking place with the Latvian border guards.

“Both Latvian and Polish colleagues have decided to apply the same measures on their borders with Belarus,” he stressed.

He commented on the situation of the border guard who entered Lithuania.

The Minister also commented on yesterday’s SBGS recording that a Belarusian official had entered the territory of Lithuania.

What was he aiming for? When there is a hybrid war and such attacks, you can probably expect everything. Apparently there are some provocations and attempts to provoke some kind of reaction. As far as I know, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is preparing a note, I think you could comment on the details. We are ready to respond to various provocations and misinformation ”, he assured.

The head of the State Border Guard Service, General R. Liubajev, said that there is currently no data on people trapped between the borders. He also suggested not using the term “no man’s land”.

“It just came to our knowledge then. Because the state border is marked clearly enough, the border line is marked with the appropriate signs. And illegal immigrants are waiting on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, without having the opportunity. to return to Belarus due to certain actions of border guard officers, without wanting to go to Lithuania. At the moment, there is no border between Lithuania and Belarus, “said R. Liubajev.

The head of the SBGS stated that border guards help people trapped in such a situation by entering the territory, providing them with humanitarian assistance and continuing to decide on their fate.

He also commented on the Belarusian border guard captured on Lithuanian territory.

“The official entered the territory of Lithuania, approached the border sign, speaking by means of communication. We do not have to answer at this time what happened, why exactly that official did it. But under an agreement with the Republic of Belarus, through the appropriate channels, the Belarusian side was informed of the incident. We initiated an investigation into it. The Ministry of the Interior also mentioned that in the near future the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will prepare a note and send it “, said the SBGS Commander.

He said the Belarusian border guard had a sleeping bag and a tent.

“During all that period, we noticed a lot of activity on the border. Representatives of various institutions are involved, at least as you can see from their clothing. It is also known that the actions of border guards are monitored and recorded in Lithuania,” he said.

R. Liubajev said that there are people on the state border, but it is very difficult to predict the possible numbers.

“That is why I said that despite the stabilization of the situation, we remain vigilant,” he said.

Bilotaitė: Most of the participants in the riots are involved in criminal structures

The interior minister also commented on the riots near the Seimas on Tuesday.

“The police are conducting a pre-trial investigation. Decisions have been made to arrest certain people. To my knowledge, in addition to those 29 people, there were 36 other people who took certain actions: inciting or other physical actions, contributing to incite, organize or act against riots, ”said A. Bilotaitė.

Therefore, according to her, there must be a quick and strict legal assessment of the Seimas members who organized the riots and the organizers of the riots themselves.

“Some information has been received by all the institutions, as well as by our institution. There were no indications of serious aggressive actions in that information, but if you ask me my evaluation, I think it is a coordinated action, planned and clearly with very clear objectives in Lithuania. I don’t think that if it happens by chance, there are forces that put everything in order and today we have that situation, “said A. Bilotaitė.

He said that most of the detainees had repeatedly had law enforcement cases.

“It is clear by those who have identified that a significant part is related to the structures of the criminal world and this only reaffirms that it is a war. The hybrid war and the means are various ”, emphasized the minister.

Part returned

Liubayev said that “some of the illegal immigrants have returned.”

“We cannot speak of impressive numbers, but some migrants have returned. We have such information from open sources. We see the current situation on the borders between Latvia-Belarus and Poland-Belarus. This situation has fundamentally changed since the signing of the Minister’s decision on August 3, when we began to take active actions on the state border, these flows were transferred to the borders of our neighbors. This is a well-known phenomenon, “assured the SBGS commander.

200 decisions were made

Evelina Gudzinskaitė, Director of the Migration Department, told a press conference that none of the asylum applications had been granted.

“To date, around 1,500 illegal immigrants have been registered in the asylum procedures carried out by the department. Of these, about 200 decisions are final, so far no decision has been in their favor, no decision on asylum has been made. Now they are working with them, they are informed about alternatives and possibilities to return home voluntarily, ”said E. Gudzinauskaitė on Friday.

The head of the Migration Department, E. Gudzinskaitė, explained that illegal immigrants who want to return to their countries of origin and do not have documents can start their journey home in a few weeks, when they receive the documents from their citizenship embassies.

“About 30%, whose (asylum – self) applications were rejected, took the opportunity to appeal. Out of 200, probably about 160 decisions have entered into force, subject to appeal procedures. There are probably now about 40 in court who are suing in court. There are about 10 people in the Migration Department who have filed complaints, ”said E. Gudzinskaitė.

He explained that in all cases where an asylum seeker is informed of the decision to reject his application, he is asked if he wishes to appeal the decision.

“If an asylum seeker says they want the help of a lawyer, then the Immigration Department sends the need to those law firms and they must turn over the lawyer. So far, there have been no problems that we have requested and we have not received the service ”, explained the director of the institution.

On Thursday, the cameras of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service recorded how a Belarusian border guard enters the territory of Lithuania.

According to the service, the Belarusian official entered the territory of Lithuania about one and a half meters and returned immediately.

Delphi recalls that on the last day, two border guards allowed two people to enter Lithuania for humanitarian reasons. And 19 illegal immigrants were returned to Belarus.

During this year, more than 4 thousand illegal immigrants entered Lithuania.