European Commission recognizes migrant crisis on Belarus border as hybrid attack

VILNIUS - In its action plan on migration adopted on Wednesday, the European Commission singled out the situation on the border of Lithuania and other neighboring countries as a hybrid attack by Belarus, which allows expecting effective assistance in dealing with similar situations in the future, Lithuanian EU Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius said.

"An addition to the so-called migration package was adopted today," Sinkevicius told BNS. "It [the migration package] was approved a year ago, and today there was an assessment of the package."

"It is very important for Lithuania that what is happening on the Lithuanian, Latvian, Polish border with Belarus, the EU's external border, the hybrid attack, is recognized there," the commissioner said.

"The European Commission does not call all the events by one name, illegal migration, but distinguishes them and speaks about different responses, different assistance," he added.

The Commission adopted a renewed EU action plan against migrant smuggling, saying the measures are aimed, among other things, at countering Belarus' actions on the Lithuanian border.