Lithuania considers stricter migration policy amid rising pressures

Lithuania’s new government is moving toward a stricter migration policy, with President Gitanas Nausėda proposing a new model for temporary work permits that would require foreign workers to leave the country for at least six months after two years of employment, LRT reports.

Legal experts warn the proposal could harm the economy and question its motivation, while security specialists argue migrants may pose a threat. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas has suggested temporarily reinstating border controls with Latvia due to rising migrant flows from Belarus, though other officials oppose the idea.

The government’s direction is clear: migration rules will tighten. Overcrowded migrant camps and daily reports of illegal border crossings—once a reality in Lithuania—have shaped the current approach. In 2020–2024, Lithuania rapidly toughened its stance, adopting policies to turn away migrants, reinforcing borders with concertina wire fences, and, in extreme cases, building walls.

Latvia now faces a similar challenge. This year, nearly 8,000 migrants have attempted to enter Latvia from Belarus—nine times more than in Lithuania. Latvia’s incomplete border infrastructure, including unfinished physical barriers and detection systems, has exacerbated the issue, according to Antanas Montvydas, deputy head of Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service.

Many migrants entering Latvia then try to reach Western Europe via Lithuania. In the past six months, Lithuanian authorities have stopped 1,200 migrants coming from Latvia. Katelynas acknowledged that reinstating border controls would be a last resort to manage flows and detain migrants at the border rather than within Lithuanian territory.

Latvia has requested Lithuania’s support rather than border closures. Lithuania sent a second team of 10 border guards this week, but Latvia’s interior minister, Jānis Dombrava, says 100 are needed. Both countries face similar infrastructure and staffing shortages.

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius and President Nausėda oppose border checks with Latvia, as Poland already conducts such inspections on its borders with Lithuania and Germany. Reintroducing controls would fragment the Schengen area. Nausėda called internal Schengen borders a “defeat” and a “capitulation” to the phenomenon.

The president instead proposes allowing employers to bring in foreign workers temporarily without guarantees of long-term stays. Lithuania currently hosts around 220,000 foreigners, or 7.7% of the population—a strain on integration systems and a source of growing social tension, officials say.