Farmers want public groups, parties to sign agreement to curb emigration

“The proposal is to develop a national agreement, it would be signed on migration and demographic policies, this would not be an agreement among political parties but an agreement signed among political parties and public organizations and everyone who find the problems important,” Ramūnas Karbauskis, the leader of LFGU political group, told a news conference at the parliament on Tuesday.

In Karbauskis’ words, the document should be ready for signing in May, however, the organizers will take all the time they need to finalize the document.

Last week, Statistics Lithuania said that over 50,000 people emigrated from Lithuania last year, in addition to nearly 14,000 in the first two months of 2017.

Experts say the main drivers behind emigration include moderate wages and, in part, social inequality.

The growth of emigration volumes in past months can to a certain extent only exist on paper, as some of the Lithuanians who had emigrated earlier did not declare their emigration until now to avoid the duty of paying compulsory health insurance. Meanwhile, others may be in a rush to leave for Great Britain before the country launches talks to leave the European Union (EU), as London intends to curb immigration from members of the community.