Refugees brought across the border: Lithuania accuses Belarus of illegal crossings


As of: 08/18/2021 8:56 a.m.

Belarus closed the borders with Lithuania just under two weeks ago. Lithuania is now accusing the Belarusian authorities of forcing migrants into the country and illegally crossing the border in the process.

According to the Lithuanian border guards, several Belarusian security forces illegally crossed the border to the neighboring EU country Lithuania.

According to this, the officers equipped with shields and helmets are said to have pushed a group of 35 migrants across the border and entered Lithuanian territory. They are said to have withdrawn to Belarus only after repeated requests. The border guard announced this on Facebook.

Lithuania wants to strengthen border protection

A video published by the authorities in Vilnius is said to prove the incident. The recordings are said to have been made on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. Lithuania could not tolerate such a provocation, said Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite. She announced that she would continue to increase capacities for border protection.

Lithuania has been struggling for weeks with an increased influx of migrants, especially from the Middle East, across the border with Belarus.

The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko had previously openly threatened to allow people from countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan or Syria to cross the border into the EU in response to EU sanctions imposed on his country.

By closing borders, Lukashenko wants to prevent migrants who have fled to Lithuania from returning to Belarusian territory. Today the interior ministers of the EU countries want to deal with the situation in a video conference.



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