“Today, the quota system is being worked on at the governmental level. I’m talking about the introduction of quotas for immigrants, I’m talking about legal immigration,” the politician said on Thursday in the Seimas during a press conference to present the assessment of threats to national security.
“After weighing, evaluating how much the labor market needs, how it will affect our security, our cultural heritage, I think quotas are the way we have to go. It will allow us to start controlling immigration processes,” he said.
The Departments of State Security and Second Operational Services, which submitted an assessment of threats to national security in 2023, drew attention to the growing Belarusian diaspora in Lithuania and warned of the possibility of radicalization of the growing Muslim community.
The document states that the growing Belarusian diaspora in Lithuania gives Belarusian intelligence services the opportunity to find suitable targets for recruitment.
According to the document, the threat to Lithuania’s national security interests is posed by Belarusian citizens who have come to Lithuania and whose connection with Belarusian intelligence has not been broken. In addition, Belarusian intelligence services use citizens of their country living in Lithuania who have previously worked in state institutions.
“Belarusian intelligence services seek to use representatives of the Belarusian diaspora in Lithuania to collect intelligence information about Lithuania and its institutions, the Belarusian democratic opposition and the Belarusian diaspora itself,” the threat assessment reads.
It also warns of the risk of possible attacks linked to Muslim radicalisation.
“Manifestations of increasing radicalism are not observed in the Lithuanian Muslim community, although some individuals with radical views are identified among citizens of third countries who have arrived in Lithuania. They have no intention of violence, but do not recognize democracy, express anti-Western or anti-Semitic views,” the report states.
Intelligence claims that there is no direct and organized dissemination of Islamist ideology in Lithuania, there are no Muslim organizations and movements operating abroad or their support groups in the country.
“However, the availability of such ideology and propaganda on the Internet poses the risk of independent radicalization of individuals. The ongoing tension in the Middle East region, the desecration of Islamic symbols that provoke Muslims in European countries and the propaganda of Islamist organizations are likely to increase the risk of radicalization of individuals and, certainly, attacks in Lithuania,” the assessment notes.
According to Kęstutis Budris, the president’s chief adviser on national security issues, the increasing numbers of immigration to Lithuania from Muslim countries may make this problem more urgent.
“(…) In Lithuania, there is an additional aspect, the same immigration figures from countries that form the Muslim community here and change its image. We will have to pay attention to that too,” he said.
The chairman of NSGK emphasized that the decisions made now will affect the security situation inside the country in the future.
“We must understand very clearly that the decisions taken now will allow us to control the immigration processes or make the ongoing immigration processes in Lithuania irreversible and we will have a lot of serious social, cultural and security challenges,” L. Kasčiūnas asserted.
As one of the ways to control the growth of immigration of Belarusian citizens, he indicated the withdrawal of residence permits in Lithuania, if they were to constantly return to their country.
“If you return regularly, you lose your permit. First you get a warning, and then you lose your permission. I think that this is the path that could be chosen,” said the chairman of NSGK.
According to Lithuanian intelligence, the Belarusian diaspora in the country consists of more than 60,000 people. people, it increases by about 15.5 thousand per year. persons.
The Ministry of the Interior announced this week that it will propose tightening the requirements for foreigners coming to Lithuania to work and the companies that invite them.
If the proposals are approved, employers will be able to employ foreigners only full-time, and only foreigners with a residence permit in Lithuania will be able to work.
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2024-04-21 10:12:06