Lithuania's InterMin proposes to terminate bilateral agreements with Belarus

VILNIUS – Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite attended a meeting of the country's State Defense Council on Monday and proposed to terminate bilateral international agreements and inter-institutional agreements with Belarus in the areas under the Interior Ministry's control.

"The Belarusian regime continues to use migrants as a tool of political pressure, and Belarusian officials, through their active actions, contribute to the organization of the illegal migration crisis and destruction of the physical barrier. Since Belarus is violating the principles of international law and fails to comply with bilateral agreements, they are meaningless and we propose to terminate them", the interior minister said in a statement released by her ministry.

The existing bilateral international agreements with Belarus are losing their meaningfulness, given continuous geopolitical threats in the region and the fact that Belarus, as an ally of Russia, continues its orchestrated hybrid aggression against Lithuania on the bilateral border, the minister said.

The Belarusian regime's hybrid pressure on the protection of the state border will continue unabated, and the risk of major border incidents is also possible, the ministry says. Therefore, the support of the Lithuanian army and other state institutions will continue to be necessary to protect the state border.

Since the restoration of its independence, Lithuania has signed a number of bilateral agreements with Belarus on cooperation in the areas under the Interior Ministry's control, as well as several inter-institutional agreements, but their practical implementation has not been taking place for some time already, the ministry pointed out.

Earlier, Lithuania suspended the implementation of European Commission-funded cross-border cooperation programs with Belarus and Russia.