Linas Jegelevičius for the BNN
In an unprecedented humanitarian effort, Lithuania has ferociously sprung to assist a war-ravaged Ukraine – on all possible fronts. The country’s government has greenlit 4 million euros in reserve funds to be used to welcome Ukrainians fleeing the invasion. Purportedly, thousands of the Riflemen Union (RU) members have expressed determination to go and fight as part of the Ukrainian troops, as social media was teeming with other profuse individual initiatives aiming to help the Ukrainians.
For example, some property owners said they were ready to accommodate Ukrainian refugees. Free! Lithuanians have reportedly already registered close to 5,700 dwellings that could accommodate up to 23,000 Ukrainian refugees via the NGO Strong Together (Stiprūs Kartu). Moreover, Lithuanian municipalities have prepared premises that could accept an additional 11,000 people fleeing the war in Ukraine.
A total of 3.27 million euros have been allocated to the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, including 151.6 thousand euros for the activities of NGO mobile teams. Also, 1 965.6 thousand euros for catering. Another 880 thousand euros for hygiene and other personal effects and medicines. And 275 thousand euros for the procurement of three-day food rations.
The Ministry of Health will be allocated 667 thousand euros to finance health care services for displaced Ukrainians.
«Led by good will and compassion, we are determined to continue in this vein hoping for the good to prevail over evil eventually. I can assure you that the Lithuanian health care system is ready to provide all necessary medical assistance to the people of Ukraine forced out from their country by war,» noted the Minister for Health Arūnas Dulkys.
The ministry has stopped volunteer registration after 300 medics have volunteered to go to Ukraine, according to Dulkys. Those people would be paid wages, bonuses, daily allowances and would be provided sleeping accommodation, Dulkys said adding that now was time for the processing of documents and group training.
The minister stated earlier this week that 24 medics should go to two medical facilities in Western Ukraine, without specifying the time of their departure. He then said that several hundred medics had volunteered to go to Ukraine but not all specialists were now needed in that country.
Read also: UN calls for EUR 1.5 billion for months of humanitarian aid
According to the Migration Department, as of March 2, 623 Ukrainians have applied for temporary residence permits on humanitarian grounds, six applied for national visas, and 14 came using the visa-free regime. Lithuania has facilitated migration procedures for the Ukrainians fleeing the war to create the most favourable conditions for them to quickly obtain the documents required to reside and work in Lithuania, the interior ministry has said.
Moreover, war refugees will not be required to provide travel, health insurance, and other documents, granting them the right to arrive and stay in Lithuania.
The Ukrainian nationals who benefit from the visa waiver or have a valid Schengen visa, as well as the Ukrainian citizens who have been issued a national visa or a temporary residence permit on humanitarian grounds will have the right to work in Lithuania and will be relieved from the obligation to obtain a work permit.
Those applying for a temporary residence permit in Lithuania for work will be relieved from the obligation to apply to the Employment Service regarding their conformity to the needs of the Lithuanian labour market and will be able to take up work immediately. Those Ukrainian citizens who have applied for asylum in Lithuania will also be entitled to work.
Moreover, refugees from Ukraine will have the right to necessary medical assistance and other necessary healthcare services, the ministry said. People who have arrived in Lithuania independently and have nowhere to stay are invited to register at the centres in Alytus and Marijampolė that are open all day. Adults should bring children for registration together with them, the Migration Department said.
Meanwhile, Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union says it has received ‘thousands of requests’ to join it since Russia started its war against Ukraine, the union’s commander Albertas Dapkus says. «We are observing major determination and wish to come, get trained and join the defence of our homeland. So these are those moments during a crisis, when we can be united during difficult times, and that was the case during the Baltic Way, January 13th, the Crimean annexation in 2014, and now,» Dapkus told Lithuanian media.
«To be honest, we now have the figures in thousands and we are facing a simple problem that our capacity was, for example, to train up to 1,000 people and accept them during a year,» he added.
Meanwhile, local municipalities rushed to unleash their potential to aid Ukraine struck by the humanitarian crisis. The Vilnius City Council has decided to allocate 0.5 million euros to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, which is now under Russia’s attack, Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius said.
The Vilnius authorities have also allocated premises for «The House of Ukraine», a public establishment, under a fast-track procedure.
Lithuania has been exuberantly collecting assistance for the Ukrainian people since Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Blue/Yellow, an NGO supporting the Ukrainian army, reported that almost 8 million euros had already been donated by Lithuanian people, with an additional 700,000 euros donated to NGOs assisting refugees.
Even small mom-and-pop businesses, like local bakeries, were seeking ways to help Ukraine – haul bread, which supply is said to be scarce, to the war-torn country. More than 600,000 civilians have already fled Ukraine, according to the United Nations. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis sees it necessary to create a humanitarian corridor in Ukraine for the civilians willing to leave the territories occupied by Russia.
Last week, Russia unleashed a war in Ukraine sparking outrage and rage throughout the world. But ex-Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė says that sanctions will not stop Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, emphasising that only a war (against) Russia can stop the war that is already ravaging Ukraine.
«Sanctions will not stop Putin, whatever they are. They are needed, but without the exceptions we see right now with the disconnection from the SWIFT and the exclusion of the energy sector and banks that service it…» Grybauskaitė posted on Facebook, adding: «And those repeated statements that NATO cannot help Ukraine already sound pathetic and show the West’s cowardice.»
BNN ANALYSES | Lithuania unleashes unprecedented humanitarian effort to aid Ukraine
