EU supports Lithuania while Belarus bullies it with migrants

Lithuania is struggling with an influx of migrants allowed travel through by Belarus in retaliation against sanctions, the EU is now granting the Baltic state financial support to cope with the emergency.

The EU Commission has decided to make available €36.7 million to Lithuania in emergency assistance under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund to help improve reception capacity in Lithuania following the exceptional number of people irregularly crossing the Lithuania-Belarus border.

Support for reception facilities and services includes first aid, medical care, Covid-19 isolation facilities and vaccines, shelter, food, clothing, and hygiene kits. Funding will also reinforce the response teams for detecting potential victims of human trafficking and for assisting persons in need of international protection, the EU said August 12.

The decision follows Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson’s visit to Lithuania and the visit of Commission officials on August 8 to 10, where a strategic assessment to provide additional financial support to Lithuania, to manage the external border and provide adequate facilities for migrants, was made.

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