EU must be prepared to strengthen its external border with Belarus - Murniece

  • 2021-06-18
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - The European Union (EU) must be ready to support the strengthening of its external border with Belarus, the Speaker of the Saeima Inara Murniece (National Alliance) said during a meeting with Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte today when discussing the issue of increasing illegal migration flows on the EU's eastern border with Belarus.

As LETA was informed by the Parliament's Press Service, the Speaker of the Saeima pointed out that strengthening the borders is important not only for the security of the Baltic region, but also for the security of the entire EU.

Murniece said that EU economic sanctions against Belarus should be introduced as soon as possible. ''We must support the right of the Belarusian people to express their views freely and continue to help Belarusian civil society,'' the Speaker of the Latvian Parliament emphasized.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed current issues in the Latvian-Lithuanian parliamentary dialogue, as well as the Lithuanian Presidency of the Baltic Assembly in 2020. The importance of parliamentary oversight in the implementation of major Baltic regional infrastructure projects - the synchronization of the Baltic electricity networks and Rail Baltica - was emphasized. Possibilities for further cooperation between the Baltic States in the fields of higher education and research were also discussed.