The Lithuanian Parliament has declared a state of emergency on the border with Belarus, a measure that takes effect at midnight on Tuesday and will be in force for a month, in response to the request of the Lithuanian government.
With 122 votes in favor and one against, the state of emergency affects the entire border section and five kilometers inland, as well as in the accommodation facilities for immigrants in Kybartai, Medininkai, Pabrade, Rukla and Vilnius.
The President of Parliament, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, has presented the Administration’s proposal before the chamber, defending that it is “necessary to declare a state of emergency,” reports the Delfi news portal.
For her part, the country’s prime minister, Ingrida Simonyte , has specified that this is the first time that a state of emergency has been declared in the nation’s history. “The state of emergency is an instrument that has never been used in the practice of our independent state,” he stressed.
Under the state of emergency, the movement of vehicles in the border area without the permission of the guards will be restricted and entry to this territory will be prohibited, except for local residents, while the security forces will be able to search vehicles and people, their belongings. in areas under the state of emergency, among others.
On the other hand, meetings in these areas will be prohibited and, as for migrants who have entered and are staying in Lithuania, their right to communicate in writing or by phone will be restricted, except for the possibility of communicating with the country’s authorities. .
The Lithuanian authorities assure that so far this year almost 4,200 people have crossed the border illegally, especially since the summer, coinciding with the battery of sanctions that the European Union imposed on Belarus for the post-election violence that occurred after the presidential elections in August 2020 in which the president revalidated his mandate for the sixth time.
Poland and the Baltic countries that share a border with Belarus agree that this unusual increase in attempts to cross the border is a kind of retaliation carried out by the Belarusian government for these sanctions. In addition to Belarusian citizens, the migratory flow comes mainly from people from the Middle East and some African countries.
