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Joint statement by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania Ingrida Šimonytė and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki

06.08.2021

As the hybrid war initiated by the Belarusian regime against the European Union continues, Belarus’ neighbours – Poland and Lithuania – have become Lukashenka’s primary targets. Lithuania is currently at the front line of illegal migration flows sponsored by the Belarusian state.

Mateusz Morawiecki i Ingrida Šimonytė

We condemn the use of illegal migration by the Lukashenka regime as a weapon to put political pressure on the EU and its Member States. This once again demonstrates the cynical nature of the Belarusian regime and shows the need for a swift and joint EU response to address this security challenge.

Together with Poland and the other EU Member States, as well as the relevant international organisations, Lithuania fights against this hybrid threat and does everything in its power to preserve the integrity of the EU's eastern border. Poland supports Lithuania and fulfils its obligation to protect the EU’s external borders, cooperating with EU institutions to this end.

We call on the European Commission, European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), European Asylum Support Office, as well as all EU Member States and our partners outside the EU to provide both political and tangible support in facing this challenge.

There are no signs of improvement on the EU’s eastern border and the number of illegal migrants crossing Lithuania’s border with Belarus continues to increase, reaching several hundred people a day.

Considering this unprecedented situation for our region, Lithuania and Poland call on the EU and its Member States to continue and increase the urgently needed diplomatic, financial and technical support for Lithuania in its fight against the criminal impact of the Lukashenka regime’s actions.

We urge the EU institutions to use all means available to them to cut off the new illegal migration route as quickly as possible – right after its establishment.

Furthermore, we call on the EU and its Member States to use this impulse to strengthen our common EU migration and asylum policy, as well as to rethink our approach to border protection. We are firmly convinced that protecting the Schengen area’s external borders is not only the responsibility of individual Member States but also a shared responsibility of the entire EU. Therefore, this issue should be given due political attention at the EU level, along with the appropriate funding for its resolution.

Lithuania and Poland emphasize the need for a swift and decisive response to the actions of the Belarusian regime and anyone involved in organising and facilitating the smuggling of illegal migrants – including by extending the EU’s restrictive measures to the Belarusian regime itself.

 

Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania                                  Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland

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