During his conversation with the President of the European Commission, Gitanas Nausėda pointed out that at the moment it was of the utmost importance to stop the flights of migrants from the Middle East region, organized by the Belarusian regime, and to start the repatriation of migrants who have ended up on the territory of Belarus to their countries of origin.
Ursula von der Leyen informed the President about the talks held by Vice-President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas and the leaders of Middle East countries regarding the suspension of flights to Minsk and the organization of repatriation flights.
The President of Lithuania welcomed the European Commission’s initiative to organize repatriation flights so that migrants could return to their countries of origin from the territory of Belarus. “We must help people, who have become victims of the deliberately created humanitarian crisis and tools of the hybrid attack, to return home. Rescuing people does not in any way diminish the responsibility of the regime that took them hostage,” the President said.
Gitanas Nausėda reiterated Lithuania’s position, voiced at the European Council in October, that the European Commission should take action in the face of the hybrid attack at the EU’s external borders by strengthening their real protection, reviewing the Community’s existing asylum policy and providing adequate funding for the construction of a physical barrier. According to the President, the European Commission’s involvement in the organization of repatriation, together with the United Nations Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration, is essential in the current situation. At the same time, the President stressed that the sanctions against the Belarusian regime must be continued and, if necessary, expanded, and that the EU’s position on the Lukashenko regime remains unchanged – it is illegitimate.
Ursula von der Leyen and the President discussed the visit of the European Commission’s representatives arranged later this week to address the deliberately created humanitarian crisis and to identify Lithuania’s needs to secure the EU’s external border.
