Schengen Subcommittee Examines Preparation of State Border Guard Service to Protect the External EU border
27 April 2007
On 26 April 2007, Subcommittee on Supervision of the Preparation of the Republic of Lithuania for the Implementation of the Schengen Acquis (Schengen Subcommittee) of the Committee on European Affairs visited the State Border Guard Service in Lavoriškės cordon.
Regimantas Čiupaila, Vice-minister of the Interior briefed the Subcommittee on the preparation of the Republic of Lithuania to implement the Schengen acquis. Vice-minister highlighted that 39 % of the Schengen facility allocations were already paid, whereas the remaining works were to be finished by September 2007, with the remaining final payment of allocations to be finalised by end of 2007. The State Border Guard Service outlined the main work of the Service, including the preparations for the Schengen evaluations, as well as the implementation of the Schengen facility programme and the Kaliningrad transit system. The officers were pleased to note that within the first quarter of 2007 the number of border violations decreased by 30 %, and the smuggling rates were reduced by 10 %. According to the State Border Guard Service, successful and effective work of the border guard was effectively made easier by establishing border cordons in dangerous regions of the border zone, as well as through the acquisition of technical and other equipment.
Members of the Schengen Subcommittee also examined the state border with the Republic of Belarus and observed the practical implementation of border protection measures.
Submitted by:
Julijus Glebovas, 2396861,
[email protected] 
