Surveillance Systems on Border With Belarus Must Be Installed by the End of the Year, Lithuanian Minister Says

Such a remark was made after a visit to the Puškii border checkpoint, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

During the visit, Bilotait? discussed the schedule of the ongoing works as well as inspected the progress of the installation of the monitoring system on the border with Belarus.

According to Bilotait?, Lithuania received €70 million from the European Commission. These investments will help the country ensure effective protection of the external border of the EU and will provide adequate control of illegal migration.

“The EU’s solid support for Lithuania will help strengthen the protection of the country’s border with Belarus. In the face of geopolitical threats, it is very important to install monitoring systems in time, by the end of this year, along the entire stretch of the border with Belarus. Personal responsibility for this lies not only with the contractors but also with the head of the State Border Guard Service,” the statement of Bilotait? reads.

The Lithuanian Ministry of Interior revealed that in 2022, border monitoring systems are planned to be installed in six border checkpoints on the border with Belarus. In addition, the same notes that currently, 53.3 per cent of the borderline with Belarus is monitored with the help of systems.

The Ministry explains that the entire sea border, which is over 119 kilometres long, and the entire stretch of the border with Russia, which is almost 275 kilometres long, are also being closely monitored.

Apart from the above-mentioned, it was pointed out that the construction of the physical barrier on the border with Belarus is also nearing its completion. The physical barrier on the border with Belarus is expected to be completed at the beginning of September.

“After the implementation of the project, a concertina prism will be preliminarily installed on a 356.1 km stretch, 452.9 km of fences will be built, and 76.1 km of fences will be renovated on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border,” the Ministry explained.

Lithuania has been registering high numbers of migrant arrivals on its border with Belarus. Nonetheless, it was noted that illegal migrants show no interest in remaining in Lithuania as their goal is to reach other European Union countries.

The Lithuanian Ministry of Interior said earlier this month that the majority of illegal migrants left their accommodation as soon as the country decided to stop applying measures to restrict their movement.