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Lithuania has successfully updated the Schengen Information System (SIS)which supports borders and law enforcement cooperation between and in the EU Member States, in line with the new regulations adopted by the European Parliament and Council.
Announcing the news, the Ministry of Interior of Lithuania said that the updated information system would help Lithuania and the other Member States ensure prompt data exchange on missing people, contribute to the fight against crime, and provide reliable management of migration processes, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“Thanks to the updates, warnings of new categories and additional data will be exchanged, and the state institutions of the countries will receive more detailed and reliable information. For example, border guards will be able to verify whether warnings have been issued for an arriving foreigner and whether the person does not pose a security threat,” the statement of the Ministry reads.
Now that the system has been officially updated, competent Lithuanian authorities will be able to issue alerts on missing as well as wanted people representing a threat to public security.
Moreover, the authorities will also be able to enter preventative warnings to protect vulnerable people and will be able to store biometric data in SIS for the purpose of verifying the identity of individuals registered in the system.
Apart from being able to verify the identity of registered people, the upgrade SIS will also gather DNA records for persons reported missing and will include biometrics and new tools to fight crime and terrorism.
The Lithuanian authorities explain that as soon as an alert is entered into SIS by one of the member countries, it becomes available in real-time to the others, and the authorities, such as the police and border guards, can issue alerts.
“After receiving information, officers have the opportunity to take appropriate actions to prevent a criminal act,” the Ministry added.
According to the Commission, SIS together with the two other upcoming systems – the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) and the Entry/Exit System (EES), will be part of the most advanced border management systems in the world.
SIS was created in 1995 following the removal of internal border checks between Schengen participating countries at the time, and its renewal was decided in 2016.
Currently, all EU/Schengen countries have access to SIS, except for Cyprus. The authorities of Cyprus asked to access SIS in December last yearbut the EU authorities have yet to give an exact date for its joining.
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