“A discussion on strengthening the EU’s external borders took place today. The president presented Lithuania’s proposal to introduce a single set of standards for border protection”, Nerijus Aleksiejūnas, an adviser to Grybauskaitė, told BNS by phone from the Austrian city.
“The protection of external borders now differs (across member states): some set up surveillance cameras, others build fences, and still others do nothing at all. External borders are a shared responsibility of the EU and there has to be a common set of standards covering various technical solutions and information sharing,” he said.
According to the diplomat, the proposal received support from other countries at the summit.
“We will continue to work to turn this idea into concrete projects that could be used by Lithuania as well,” he said.
Illegal migrant flows to Europe have declined sharply in recent years, but migratory pressures continue to affect the European Union.
Southern member states want other countries to share the burden by accepting a part of migrants arriving by sea, but some Central European countries do not agree to do so.
Almost 500 people refugees have been relocated to Lithuania under the EU’s resettlement program, but most of them have already left the country.