Not only political interest groups, but also people involved in smuggling are taking part in protests against the accommodation of illegal migrants in Lithuanian municipalities on the border with Belarus, said Laurīns Kasčūns, Chairman of the Seimas National Security and Defense Committee.
“These protests involve various elements related to the ongoing processes in the south-west of Lithuania – I mean smuggling cases here. They are probably interested in keeping the police presence there as small as possible,” he told Lithuanian public radio on Wednesday.
At the same time, certain political forces are taking part in the protests, and these actions are being organized in a special way, added the deputy representing the conservative party “Fatherland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats”.
As reported, on Monday, a protest was held in Šalčininkai district against plans to set up a tent town in the territory of a closed Public Security Service landfill in Rūdninkai to accommodate one and a half thousand illegal migrants. More than a hundred protesters blocked the way to the landfill, later some of them stormed the landfill site, set tires on fire and resisted police officers who, after repeated reprimands, had to use force to disperse them.
The Minister of the Interior, his father Agne Bilotaite, described the incident as an “abusive provocation and blatant anti-state action”, but Kaščūns has indicated that he will refrain from using “too loud terms”.
At present, migrants who have entered Lithuania illegally across the Belarusian border in the Šalčininkai district will be accommodated both in the landfill and in the former school dormitories in the town of Dievenišķi, whose residents have also repeatedly protested against these plans.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ingrīda Šimonīte has said more specifically – in an interview with the portal “15min.lt” she said that the government has tried to find a common solution with the Divine people, but the Seimas opposition Lithuanian election campaign-leader of the whose party representatives lead the Šalčininkai district area.
According to her, in other Lithuanian municipalities these discussions are much more constructive.
The flow of illegal migrants across the Lithuanian-Belarusian border has reportedly increased sharply recently. Since the beginning of this year, the total number of illegal immigrants apprehended has reached 3,027.
Lithuanian officials believe that the Belarussian regime is deliberately facilitating the flow of migrants across the border.
Due to the migration crisis, a state of emergency has been declared in Lithuania.
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