Lithuania to allocate € 42 million for the construction of a wall on the border with Belarus

The Lithuanian authorities will allocate € 42 million for the construction of a wall on the border with Belarus due to the flow of illegal migrants. Ambassador of Lithuania to Germany Ramunas Misiulis about this reported German media group Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).

Misiulis also stressed that Lithuania considers the influx of illegal migrants as a “hybrid aggression” from Belarus, which poses a danger not only for the Lithuanian population, but for the entire European Union.

“The asylum seekers do not really want to go to Lithuania, but to Germany or Sweden,” Misiulis said.

According to him, Lithuania is already supported by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex. It intends to send 30 border guards and several vehicles to the country. Another 10 employees will be provided by Estonia.

On July 2, Lithuania declared an extreme situation regime due to an increase in the inflow of illegal migrants from the Middle East, entering through the territory of Belarus. Five days later, the country’s authorities announced the start of construction of a wall on the border with Belarus.

“We will begin to build an additional physical barrier separating Lithuania and Belarus, and this will become a clear sign and a certain deterrent for those who organize the flow of illegal migrants,” said Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte.

Earlier, Alexander Lukashenko announced that the republic would no longer restrain illegal migrants to the EU countries – because of the sanctions of the West, Minsk has “neither money nor strength” for this. He also said that the European Union is trying to turn Belarus into a “settler” for migrants. By this, Lukashenka explained the negative reaction of the EU to the decision of Minsk to suspend the readmission agreement after the sectoral economic sanctions by Brussels.

On June 17, Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite has already announced plans to erect a fence with barbed wire or an alarm system along the border. The country’s authorities estimated the cost of one kilometer of the wall at 30 thousand euros.

“Besides, it is necessary to integrate video cameras, sensors and so on along the fence. Their installation on one kilometer of the border will cost 130 thousand euros, ”the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Lithuania said.

The length of the border between Lithuania and Belarus is 678.8 kilometers.