Lithuania’s VSD proposes to establish crisis management centre to coordinate terrorism response

Head of the VSD Darius Jauniškis and Interior Minister Saulius Skvernelis on Monday met with Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius to discuss security situation in Lithuania following the terrorist attacks in Paris.

“It was proposed to consider establishing a crisis management centre which could respond to such incidents more rapidly and take measures much sooner,” the head of the VSD told reporters after the meeting.

“Response in Paris was very rapid and, I think, we should follow the same path in order to respond urgently in case something happens here,” said Jauniškis.

According to Jauniškis, 50 individuals in Lithuania have been flagged for suspected extremist inclinations and are being monitored, but it does not mean they could be branded as terrorists. The VSD head would not comment whether these people could be in touch with foreign radicals.

Jauniškis also said the public should not make associations between refugee resettlement and terrorism. He said he hoped that refugees to be resettled in Lithuania would help the society better understand other cultures and reasons for radicalism.

Jauniškis urged not to regard every refugee as a potential terrorist. According to him, most of them are economic migrants evading war and it would be a great mistake to see them as potential terrorists.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lithuanian citizens were not among the victims of attacks in Paris. Minister of the Interior Saulius Skvernelis said that the threat level in Lithuania has not been raised after the attacks in France. However, the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) will carry out stricter screening of people at the internal and external borders of Lithuania and in the country’s airports.