Archive
Building walls, restricting rights: Lithuania’s response to the EU-Belarus border ‘crisis’
After the ongoing politico-diplomatic clash between the EU and Belarus reached a peak in the summer of 2021, press attention turned towards the situation at the Polish-Belarussian border, where thousands of people arrived hoping to travel onwards to EU territory. However, the response from the Lithuanian authorities also merits examination: the country's efforts to prevent irregular arrivals have been widely supported by the EU, despite widespread allegations of fundamental rights violations. Read More
EU: The ‘weaponised migration’ discourse dehumanises asylum-seekers
Following the arrival of a substantial number of people in Poland and Lithuania after having crossed the border from Belarus, the EU and its member states have accused the regime of Alexander Lukashenko of "weaponising migration" - a discourse that legitimises the treatment of asylum-seekers "as other than human". Read More
Belarussian government’s “hybrid attack” on European borders: statement from Lithuanian, Latvian, Polish and Estonian prime ministers
A declaration signed by four EU member state prime ministers reasserts the argument that the arrival of people at their borders from Belarus is a "hybrid attack... planned and systemically organized by the regime of Alexander Lukashenka," and calls for a coordinated EU and UN response. Read More
Lithuanian parliament votes to allow mass detention of asylum seekers
In response to the increased number of people making irregular crossings from Belarus into Lithuania - which the Lithuanian government has referred to as a form of "hybrid warfare" waged by the Belarussian government in response to EU sanctions - the government in Vilnius has adopted a harsh array of repressive measures against migrants and refugees. Read More
Lithuanian FM: Belarus using refugees as ‘hybrid weapon against EU’
The Lithuanian foreign minister has said that refugees crossing the border from Belarus are "a hybrid weapon being used against the European Union" to try to force the EU to drop sanctions against Belarus introduced after Lukashenko's election 'victory' last year, and the state's repression of protests that followed. Read More
Lithuania Reports 116 More Border Arrests Of Migrants Crossing From Belarus
The Lithuanian government claims that the Belarussian authorities are weaponising migration in response to EU sanctions placed on Belarus. Read More
Belarus: protests continue
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Minsk at the weekend to continue to protest against Alexander Lukashenko, the longstanding president who claimed victory in recent elections with 80% of the vote. Meanwhile, over 50,000 people in Lithuania formed a human chain to the Belarussian border in solidarity. Read More
Lithuania’s response to COVID-19: Quarantine through the prism of Human Rights and the Rule of Law
"‘The decisions taken are not simple and require drastic, important measures, which are necessary to control the spread of the virus.’ The Quarantine Resolution is a secondary legislation issued on the basis of the Law on Civil Protection and the Law on the Prevention and Control of Contagious Diseases. The initial duration of quarantine was set for 16-30 March, but it has been extended until 31 May. Read More
EU: Joint statement on the principles of the rule of law in times of Covid-19
"Statement by Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden" Read More
European complicity in CIA torture in ‘black sites’
An examination of ongoing pre-trial hearings for prisoners detained in Guantánamo Bay, who argue that any evidence obtained via torture should be excluded from legal proceedings. Read More