Lithuanian govt proposes declaring month-long emergency on Belarusian border

VILNIUS. Nov 9 (Interfax/BNS) – The Lithuanian government has proposed that Lithuania’s parliament, the Seimas, declare a month-long emergency on the border with Belarus, the BNS news agency said on Tuesday.

An emergency could be announced on the border, in an area five kilometers inside Lithuanian territory, and in areas where migrants are being accommodated in Kybartai, Medininkai, Pabrade, Rukla, and Vilnius.

Declaring emergencies is the jurisdiction of the Seimas.

Whenever an emergency is put into place, migrants accommodated in Lithuania are denied the right to correspondence, phone calls, and the like, except for the opportunity to contact government agencies.

Also, an emergency allows state reserve funds to be used to eliminate threats to the public peace created by the influx of migrants.

Enhanced border protection will continue to be carried out.

The situation on the Belarusian-Polish border deteriorated after a large number of migrants trying to get to the European Union gathered on the Belarusian side of the border on Monday. Polish officials have called the current border situation the most complicated since the border crisis began.

Given the amassment of migrants from the Middle East on the Belarusian-Polish border, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has demanded that Lithuanian law enforcement agencies do their best to prevent possible provocations and incidents on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, Nauseda’s press secretary Ridas Jasiulionis told BNS.

Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia have seen a growing number of illegal migrants trying to get through Belarus to the EU of late. The EU has accused Belarus of creating chaos near EU borders, as it does not allow migrants back into its territory after they are denied entry to the EU.

Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia have accused the Belarusian authorities of organizing migrant flows to the EU, calling it hybrid aggression. The European Commission shares this stance.