Lithuania's migration policy must be tightened, Deividas Matulionis, the president's chief national security advisor, said on Friday.
“Migration policy must be tightened in order to protect business, but at the same time to solve all the problems faced by society,” Matulionis told reporters after President Gitanas Nausėda's meeting with Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič.
He did not specify any particular problems or measures. Recently, there have been public debates about Russian-speaking immigrants.
According to data from the Migration Department, there are currently 52,000 Belarusian citizens, 14,000 Russian citizens, and 76,000 Ukrainian citizens living in Lithuania on various grounds. The number of Russians and Belarusians in the country has been declining.
Kondratovič said that around 200,000 foreign nationals live in Lithuania, but their numbers have been declining, which is at least partly due to the stricter migration controls that have been implemented.
“We will not be relaxing those controls,” the minister said.
According to him, migration officials will cooperate more closely with higher education institutions to ensure foreign students are not enrolled in education fraudulently.
The politician also said that the ministry has recently made considerable efforts to consult with the foreign ministry and other institutions on which countries' citizens would be culturally acceptable to Lithuania.
Officials have previously used the term “culturally similar” to describe immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
The minister also claimed that Lithuania will continue its policy of pushbacks amid an uptick in irregular migration at the border with Belarus.
“I see no reason to stop turning them back. Border guards and the political team are determined to continue this policy for as long as necessary,” he said.
A new government is being formed in Lithuania following the resignation of Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas.
Acting Interior Minister Kondratovič, nominated by the Social Democrats, the leaders of the ruling coalition, held this position in the previous cabinet. If approved, will continue in this role in the new government.
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