BRUSSELS (Agencies): The European Commission is ready to provide financial assistance to Lithuania due to the situation with illegal migration in the amount of 10 million euros, which can be allocated in August, said the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Ilva Johansson.
“The European Commission is ready to support Lithuania … in the amount of 10 million euros, which can be allocated … during the summer, in August,” she said, speaking in a committee of the European Parliament.
Lithuania has recently announced a serious increase in the number of detained illegal migrants on the border with Belarus. On July 2, the authorities of the country declared an extreme situation in connection with the influx of illegal migrants.
In turn, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko stated that the republic will no longer restrain illegal migrants to the EU countries – because of the sanctions of the West, Minsk has “neither money nor strength for this.” Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Shimonyte said that the republic has decided to fence itself off from Belarus with a fence with barbed wire.
Earlier, a representative of the EC press service told RIA Novosti that the European Commission does not finance the creation of barriers, but is ready to provide Lithuania with additional financial assistance for border management amid problems with illegal migration.
In Lithuania, on July 2, an emergency regime was introduced against the background of an influx of “illegal migrants”.
In particular, the republic announced an increase in the number of detained people on the border with Belarus.
To this, the country’s President Alexander Lukashenko replied that after the sanctions of Western countries to contain illegal immigrants towards the EU, the republic has “neither money nor strength.”
Also, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell said that the use of migrants by Belarus to cross the border in the direction of other countries is unacceptable.
Earlier, Latvia , Poland and Lithuania expressed concern about the increase in the influx of migrants from Belarus.
In Lithuania, restrictions were introduced against illegal immigrants.
The EU has announced plans to send ten million euros to Vilnius in this regard.
“We call on the Belarusian authorities to fulfill their international obligations. We are ready to consider further restrictive measures if this behavior continues,” Borrell said.
He also stressed that “pushing migrants” by the authorities to cross the border is unacceptable.
