Lithuania to press for changes to EU migration and asylum rules

Lithuania will raise the issue of revising the European Union’s Migration and Asylum Pact during its presidency of the Council of the EU, which begins on January 1, 2027, Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas told reporters.

“The obvious main problem with the new migration pact, which entered into force in June, is that it limits the ability of border guards to act,” he said, referring to the events in the Spanish autonomous city of Ceuta. “Therefore, we see grounds for raising the issue of revising the provisions of this document.”

According to the minister, migration policy must take the actual international situation into account.

“The EU Migration and Asylum Pact should not run counter to the security of states. This is particularly important for countries whose borders are the EU’s external borders,” he added.

Lithuania has directly faced the problem of illegal migration. The migration crisis on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border has continued since 2021. Most of those attempting to cross the border illegally are migrants from Asian and African countries. During this period, Lithuania has prevented 25,600 people from crossing the border by pushing them back into Belarus.

By Jeyhun Aghazada