Lithuanian Interior Minister Wants to Initiate Amendments to EU Laws on Migration
- 16.08.2021, 13:36
- 2,806
This year, 4,122 migrants illegally crossed the Lithuanian-Belarusian border.
Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite asked President Gitanas Nauseda to raise the issue of the need to amend the EU legal acts related to illegal migration at the next Council of Heads of the European Union (EU), delfi.lt reports.
On Monday, the Interior Ministry said that EU legal acts in the field of border protection, migration, and asylum should create conditions for an effective response to illegal migration during a hybrid war not only for Lithuania but also for other EU countries.
“The regime of neighboring Belarus uses migrants as a weapon to achieve its political goals. This is an organized activity, the purpose of which is to cause harm; therefore, the EU's response must be decisive, and EU legal acts must reflect the new reality and clearly regulate the actions of EU countries to prevent abuse by third countries,” A. Bilotaite emphasized.
“This issue should be discussed at the highest level, so I ask the President to raise it at the Council of Heads of the EU,” the minister said.
A. Bilotaite believes that the amendments to legislative acts at the national level would not only help Lithuania to stabilize the situation and stop the flows of migrants but also to ensure the fulfillment of international obligations since conditions for submitting asylum applications at border control points and in transit zones, as well as at embassies and consulates of Lithuania, had been created.
During the video meeting of the EU interior ministers, the Minister intends to raise the issue of adequacy of the EU legal acts, which regulate the management of migration and asylum systems in the case of hybrid warfare.
This year, 4,122 migrants illegally crossed the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. After the stabilization of the situation in Lithuania and the suspension of the flow of people illegally crossing the border, the number of illegal migrants has increased in Latvia, and an extreme situation has been declared there.
