Lithuanian adviser says one should learn from comments on migrants, make no drama

VILNIUS – As international institutions criticize Lithuania for the way it's treating irregular migrants, presidential adviser Kestutis Budrys says one should learn from such comments but make no drama out of them.

"I would view them both negatively and positively, looking into the future. We should not just be self-criticizing and looking whether someone did well or badly here. Let's look ahead and see how we can adjust these procedures", he told the Ziniu Radijas news radio on Tuesday.

Last week, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Lithuania's legislation that does not allow irregular migrants to apply for asylum and allows them to be detained simply for entering the country illegally runs counter to European directives.

Amnesty International also criticized the way Lithuanian officials handled last year's migration crisis and proposed halting the country's existing pushback policy as well as releasing all asylum seekers and irregular migrants.

Budrys stressed that Lithuania had coped with the migration situation, pointing out that the country has received not only criticism but also praise for its measures.

Nevertheless, he stressed, Lithuania cannot ignore the human rights concerns, adding that they can be taken into account when preparing for similar attacks in the future.

Lithuanian border guards have pushed back more than 10,000 people trying to enter Lithuanian illegally back since August, 2021 when they were granted the right to do so.

Lithuania maintains that the influx of migrants from Belarus, started a year ago, is a hybrid attack orchestrated by the Minsk regime.