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Lithuania Revokes Visas of 22 Belarusian Tech Workers in €500K EU Space Agency Scam
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Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) has expelled 22 Belarusian nationals who worked for a technology company in the country after determining that they posed a threat to national security.
“The State Security Department submitted conclusions to the Migration Department regarding the activities of 22 Belarusian citizens in Lithuania, people who worked at a technology company have been declared a threat to Lithuania’s national security,” the intelligence agency said on Facebook on September 7. “Their temporary residence permits in Lithuania have been revoked.”
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Following the assessment, the individuals were removed from Lithuania and prohibited from returning. The VSD said all 22 were also banned from entering the Schengen area for five years.
The Belarusian nationals had worked for a technology company involved in a project for the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), through which the company fraudulently obtained nearly €500,000.
An investigation led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and conducted by Lithuania’s Financial Crime Investigation Service in cooperation with the VSD found that the company had concealed its connections to the Russian and Belarusian military industries.
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The EU-funded project was designed to develop high-precision satellite navigation receivers using the Galileo High Accuracy Service for agricultural purposes, including the operation of farming machinery and precision agriculture.
The project’s total budget exceeded €1 million, of which more than €745,000 was financed by EUSPA. The company ultimately received €447,272 in funding.
The expulsions come amid heightened security concerns in Lithuania involving neighboring Belarus. On August 15, a Lithuanian border guard was injured in a confrontation with a group of migrants who allegedly attempted to drag him across the border into Belarus after entering Lithuania through an underground tunnel.
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