Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė has sent a letter to Ylva Johansson, the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, asking to consider the possibility for the block to co-finance the installation of a patrol trail on Lithuania’s border with Belarus.
“Thanks to joint efforts made together with the European Commission, Lithuania now has one of the most integrated and state-of-the-art external border management systems across the EU,” a press release from the Interior Ministry quoted Bilotaitė as saying.
“However, we need to continue to improve our border protection infrastructure and be ready to the fullest to respond to various threats. The patrol trail will help us achieve this goal,” she added.
Lithuania currently plans to install new sections of patrol trail and mend the existing ones along the 462-kilometre stretch of its border with Belarus to beef up response time and prevention of irregular border crossing.
The investment required for this project has been estimated at around 60 million euros. The ministry did not specify the amount of EU funds it would apply for.
Lithuanian border guards have pushed back more than 19,900 people crossing from Belarus since August 3, 2021, when they were given the right to turn away irregular migrants. The number includes repeated attempts by the same people to cross the border.
Read more: Lithuania-Belarus border now 100-percent surveilled – ministry
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