Lithuania will be able to choose which migrants to accept under a relocation scheme, Deputy Interior Minister Alicija Ščerbaitė said on Friday.
"We are now at a stage where we can select the foreigners who will arrive in Lithuania," Ščerbaitė told LRT.The deputy minister said Lithuania will ensure those accepted meet national security criteria. She added that the government is considering prioritising families over single individuals."We believe it would be best for families to arrive. [...] This means if there are families of ten people, we would only bring five families [...] and the quota is met," Ščerbaitė said.Under the European Union solidarity mechanism, Lithuania plans to accept 58 migrants currently in Cyprus and pay about 1.4 million euros for the portion of migrants it does not take in. The government made the decision last December based on the European Union Migration and Asylum Pact approved in 2024.She said the integration of arriving foreigners will be funded by the European Commission.According to Ščerbaitė, the average cost of integrating one foreigner in Lithuania will be about 12,000 euros.Interior Minister Vladislavas Kondratovicius has said the decision on the number of migrants to be accepted will be reviewed annually. He said the first migrants are expected to arrive in Lithuania next year.The European Union solidarity mechanism requires member states to share the migration burden with countries that are primary entry points into the European Union.Migration Department data shows more than 218,000 foreigners held valid residence permits in Lithuania in May.
