Lithuanian, EU intermins to discuss aid to Ukraine, illegal migration

VILNIUS – Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite and her EU counterparts will hold a meeting in Luxembourg on Friday to discuss assistance to Ukraine, the operation of the Frontex agency, migration and the asylum policy.

At the meeting, Bilotaite will call for more effective solutions to solve illegal migration-related problems, securing funding for strengthening the EU's external border and for the implementation of temporary protection for Ukrainian people, as well as for pooling effort at the EU level to assist Ukraine in the demining of the country, the Interior Ministry said.

The ministers are expected to adopt the Council's common approach on the amendment of the Schengen Borders Code. The regulation text provides for the adoption of common standards for the protection of the EU's external borders to introduce the concept of "stationary infrastructure".

Bilotaite will also call on her counterparts to continue providing comprehensive assistance to Ukraine and its people, stressing the need to pool effort at the EU level and to create a mechanism to investigate war crimes and to clear the country's territory of mines. The ministers vows to speak about the need for EU financial support to the countries hosting the large numbers of Ukrainians fleeing the war.