Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) said on Monday, September 7, that 22 Belarusian citizens who worked for a technology company in the country had been declared a threat to national security and expelled.
According to the agency, its findings on their activities in Lithuania were submitted to the Migration Department. Their temporary residence permits were revoked, and they were deported from Lithuania with a ban on return. All 22 were also barred from entering the Schengen area for five years.
The expelled citizens worked for a company that took part in a project of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) and fraudulently obtained nearly €500,000. The investigation was organized by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and conducted by Lithuania’s Financial Crime Investigation Service together with the VSD. Investigators found that the company had concealed ties to the Russian and Belarusian military industries.
The project was meant to develop high-precision satellite navigation receivers using Galileo’s High Accuracy Service for agriculture, including control of farm machinery. The total budget exceeded €1 million, of which EUSPA financed about €745,000; the company actually received €447,272. To obtain the funding, the firm submitted a declaration stating that it was not subject to EU restrictive measures and had no links to sanctioned entities.