Lithuania may consider state of emergency over migrant crisis soon – president

  • 2021-07-29
  • BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS – Lithuania may soon consider declaring a state of emergency to bring illegal migration under control, President Gitanas Nauseda said on Thursday.   

"More or less the consensus is that we are open to all issues and we can address this issue in the very near future, too," Nauseda told a news conference after meeting with Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte and political parties' leaders. 

"Before that, however, we have to assess two things: the legal circumstances of this decision and what impact this decision would have not only on our border protection issues, but also on aspects of civil issues in Lithuania," he said. 

It is necessary to have "a broad consensus" on declaring a state of emergency and look at what additional tools the legal regime would provide compared to the extreme situation regime currently in place in Lithuania, according to the president. 

"I am sure that we empower the Armed Forces and we can do so today, even under the extreme situation," he added.