Lithuania calls for tighter control over foreigners
Kyiv • UNN
The head of the Lithuanian Department of Migration calls for tighter control over the entry and stay of foreigners, citing national security.
Lithuania should tighten the procedure for entry and residence of foreigners in the country. This was stated by the head of the Lithuanian Department of Migration (DM) Evelina Gudzinskaite, writes Delfi, reports UNN.
Details
According to Gudzinskaitė, it is likely that 20-30 percent of foreign workers who come to Lithuania during the year use a temporary residence permit as a cover. Therefore, the head of the ministry said, given the geopolitical context and in order to ensure national security, Lithuania should tighten the procedure for the entry and residence of foreigners in the country.
Control measures (against foreigners - ed.) need to be strengthened, because these can be both economic migrants and malicious foreigners who simply need to physically get to Europe somehow. Therefore, tighter control will give us more tools to control the arrival of genuine workers
She reminded us that in 2021 there was a migrant crisis, and in 2022 there was a war in Ukraine. Against this backdrop, migration has intensified, particularly from Belarus.
"It's just that we're living in a time of war, and society is very sensitive to the issue of threats. The department has to check foreigners for threats, and this year a law on restrictions was passed. Since December 2022, we have been using a special questionnaire for Belarusian and Russian citizens," the official said.
As noted, the country's Interior Ministry has instructed the State Security Department to check more than 750 foreigners who received Lithuanian citizenship as an exception.
"If we receive a conclusion that a person poses a threat to the national security of the state or supports a regime hostile to Lithuania, the Migration Department will start the procedure of deprivation of citizenship," Gudzinskaite said.
Addendum
During the first year of the introduction of a special questionnaire for Russian and Belarusian citizens, which requires them to indicate their attitude to the war in Ukraine, the Lithuanian Migration Service made 2041 decisions to identify threats to state security and decided to ban the relevant foreigners from entering the country.
