“We see the whole process as hybrid aggression targeted against not Lithuania but the entire European Union. And it is based on the principled stance of the entire EU, including Lithuania, on the results of rigged elections, repressions against the civil society and human rights activists,” she said during a news conference on Wednesday.
Simonyte noted that “institutions of Belarus’ regime participate in the organization of flows of illegal migrants both actively and passively”.
“Border crossing is being facilitated deliberately and the purpose of this, in our view, is to harm our country, to destabilize the situation, among other things…,” she said.
Lithuania was mobilizing the military in an attempt to beef up its border force and handle the situation, Simonyte said.
“Also, we will start installing an additional physical barrier dividing Lithuania and Belarus, which would at the same time act as a certain sign and a certain deterrent for those organizing the flows of illegal migrants,” the government’s leader said.
In addition, the government would on Friday approve legislative bills that would speed up asylum procedures and would be debated by the parliament as a matter of urgency during an extraordinary session that would be convened next week.
Simonyte also said that she would go on a visit to Greece next week to find out about that country’s experience in handling the flows of illegal migrants.
More than 1,400 illegal migrants have been detained at Lithuania’s border with Belarus so far this year, with the majority of them coming from the Middle East and African countries.
Lithuania declared a state-level emergency on Friday due to the recent surge in illegal migration. Lithuanian officials say it is a campaign organized by the Belarusian regime against Lithuania.