Prime Minister: only by acting in solidarity can we solve challenges of irregular migration

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has met with Margaritis Schinas, European Commission Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life, and has discussed migration and other matters on the European Union agenda.

The meeting has focused on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Prime Minister Šimonytė has noted Lithuania's commitment to guarding the EU's external border. The present crisis of irregular migration has shown that the EU needs to step up its efforts to strengthen the protection of the EU's external borders.

'The European Union's legal framework needs to respond as closely as possible to the current situation in the EU and help meet the arising challenges. I know that hybrid challenges can be a novelty for us, but we need to learn and adapt quickly. One of these challenges is Lukashenko's hybrid attack on the EU's border against the entire EU,' said Šimonytė.

Lithuania proposes to include safeguards in the new pact, which would allow member states to respond quickly to similar challenges and protect their national security. It is proposed to consider a common standard for the EU's physical external border and an appropriate EU legal framework in this respect. The safeguards should ensure the protection of the EU's external borders, and prevent irregular migration and abuse of EU's asylum policy by undemocratic regimes.

It is also proposed that greater attention should be given to increasing the EU's capacity to return irregular migrants.

'The smooth return of irregular migrants to their countries of origin is key. Strong coordination between all EU policies is needed to create real incentives for countries of origin to return their citizens as soon as possible. Only by acting in solidarity and strengthening the EU's external border can we tackle the challenges of irregular migration. Irregular migration through Belarus shows that there are no Eastern or Southern European problems, but that there are common European problems,' said the Prime Minister.

The Head of Government and the Vice-President of the European Commission have visited the Belarus-Lithuania border, have met with Fabrice Leggeri, Executive Director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), representatives of the mission, and officials of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), and have seen a camp for irregular migrants at the Border Guard School in Medininkai.

Prime Minister Šimonytė has thanked European Commission Vice-President Schinas for the solidarity shown to Lithuania and the technical assistance, and has presented Lithuania's actions aimed at protecting the EU's external border and preventing the possible secondary movement of migrants in the EU. The Prime Minister has requested the European Commission Vice-President to support Lithuania's further actions and needs with a view to preventing irregular migration (new restrictive measures (sanctions) for those involved in organising irregular migration flows, combating human smuggling, additional funding to improve EU border surveillance, reception conditions, and smooth asylum procedures, rapid common European legal solutions to counter hybrid attacks and abuse of the asylum system, etc.).