There is no consensus in Lithuania on the involvement of the army in solving the migrant crisis / Article

There is no consensus in Lithuania on involving the army in resolving the migrant crisisUldis Ķezberis00:00 / 02:22

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Lithuania has had a national emergency since the beginning of July to facilitate the fight against illegal migration.

The number of migrants is increasing day by day

Another 110 immigrants detained illegally during the day, crossing the state border with Belarus, reports the Border Guard Service. Most detainees have presented documents or said that they have come from Iraq. Since the beginning of the year, more than 2,800 illegal migrants have arrived in Lithuania from Belarus.

Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite announced on Tuesday that she had called on other government colleagues to consider introducing a state of emergency in several border municipalities. She added that this issue needs to be taken seriously, as the introduction of a state of emergency would mean the involvement of the army.

“Our non-friends will use any pretext to make the situation even more difficult. Therefore, the Ministry of the Interior and the Border Guard Service are still using the existing resources to solve the problem, “said Bilotaite.

“Only in an emergency and, of course, in consultation with the local people, explaining the circumstances to them, can we return to considering an emergency.”

The President calls for no provocations

The Seimas opposition leader and former Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis has also said that the government may have to declare a state of emergency in some municipalities to address the migrant crisis. He believes that before taking such a decision, the government should launch a public information campaign and consult with opposition forces.

Lithuanian President Gitan Nauseda, for his part, believes that there is currently no reason to talk about the introduction of a state of emergency.

The question is whether sending an army to the border would not be an additional provocative factor as the culmination of the Zapad military exercises between Russia and Belarus approaches.

Our friends are looking for any excuse to further complicate the situation. And so we could help them.

I am following the situation closely, I see that the Ministry of the Interior and the Border Guard have many other options at their disposal to solve the problem. And only as a last resort and only after consultation, explaining to the public, we could discuss the state of emergency. I don’t see the need for it today, “said Nauseda.

Protests by local people

In Lithuania, a state of emergency may be imposed if, due to an emergency situation or crisis, there is a threat to the constitutional order or public order in the country and this threat cannot be prevented without recourse to the emergency measures and law provided for in the constitution. It is a special legal regime that allows for temporary restrictions on the rights and freedoms of individuals.

Meanwhile, tensions are growing both in immigrant shelters, where several conflicts have erupted in recent days, and in Lithuanian society.

In Lithuania’s Šalčininkai district, several dozen people blocked access to the area by cars on Monday night in protest of plans to house 1,500 illegal migrants at the Rūdninkai landfill.

After parking the cars on both sides of the narrow driveway, people sat in folding chairs on the carriageway, preventing access to the landfill for machinery carrying tents and other things needed to accommodate migrants. Police came to the protesters and tried to drive the protesters out of the way. There have been similar riots elsewhere in the country.

CONTEXT:

In the summer of 2021 the number of migrants has increased significantly, which is trying to enter the territory of Lithuania from Belarus. Most migrants are refugees from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Lithuanian officials believe that the Belarusian authorities deliberately does not constitute an obstacle to the crossing of the borderto punish Lithuania for supporting the Belarusian opposition and imposing sanctions on the Alexander Lukashenko regime. Lithuania describes such action as the spread of a hybrid war against the European Union.

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