Lithuanian Parliament Votes to Declare Hostile States ‘Hybrid Aggression’ and to Detain Illegal Immigrants

Lithuanian army soldiers install razor wire on border with Belarus in Druskininkai, Lithuania, on July 9, 2021. Janis Laizans/Reuters

Lithuanian Parliament on Tuesday adopted a resolution, declaring that the recent influx of illegal immigrants is a “hybrid aggression” by hostile states, and that the illegal immigrants should be treated as potential active participants of the aggression.

It comes after Lithuania declared a state of emergency due to the sudden influx of illegal immigrants via neighboring Belarus, which Lithuania accused of flying in migrants from Iraq and sending them across the border into Lithuania, which is an EU member state.