Peter Szijjarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on Wednesday I suggested Lithuanians to defend themselves against immigration with a fence. It seems that the Lithuanian Prime Minister accepted the advice.
Ingrida Simonetti, citing evidence seized from border violators, accused the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus of airlifting people to Minsk and then referring them to the Baltic state.
There are travel agencies that offer direct flights between Minsk and Baghdad, for example, as well as agencies in Belarus and other countries trying to attract “tourists” to Minsk.
Simonet said in an interview with Reuters. According to him, most of the migrants arrived in Minsk via Baghdad airport, but it cannot be excluded that many of them also came from Istanbul.
Among the evidence mentioned by the Prime Minister are applications for a visa to the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Minsk-based travel agencies Omntouri and Centercourt, dated May 27 and June 7, for three Iraqi citizens. In addition, copies sent to news agencies included the boarding pass for the Istanbul-Minsk flight of Belarusian airline Belavia, which was also found in one of the illegal immigrants.
Simonet also said that so far more than 1,300 migrants have been arrested by Lithuanian authorities so far this year, compared to just 81 last year as a whole. The majority of asylum seekers are Iraqi, Syrian and Afghan nationals.
The whole process is seen as a mixed aggression not only against Lithuania but against the entire European Union.
– The Prime Minister confirmed.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry recently announced that Gabrieleus Landsbergis, the head of the ministry, is preparing for his visit to Baghdad next week. The minister wants to discuss the problem of illegal immigration with the Iraqi leadership.
It was also reported that Lithuania limits the number of Belarusian embassies in Vilnius to one diplomat. Apart from this, only one out of three technical staff is allowed in the diplomatic mission.
