Lithuania demands €200 million in damages from Belarus over migrant crisis

May 26, Pozirk. Lithuania demands more than €200 million from Belarus in damages, accusing it of engineering a migration crisis at the shared border, BNS reported, citing Lithuania’s justice ministry.
The amount is an initial estimate and may be revised upwards, it noted.
Earlier this month, Vilnius filed a lawsuit with the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Lithuania argues that between 2021 and 2023 the migration crisis at its shared border with Belarus forced it to invest in a border fence, border surveillance systems and deploy a larger number of personnel.
The lawsuit may also be relevant to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the ministry said, noting that the ECHR is currently considering seven cases against Lithuania regarding migrant rights.
Belarus’ western neighbors have been affected by the migration crisis since 2021, when the flow of people desperate to get to the European Union surged. At that time, Alaksandar Łukašenka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent asylum seekers from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU.
Latvia, Lithuania and Poland describe the crisis as a “hybrid attack” orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.

Irregular Belarus-Lithuania crossings picking up pace since May 22
- PoliticsRyžankoŭ meets with Botswana’s top diplomatThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, Security
- Politics, SecurityZapad-2025 moved inland, scaled down, Łukašenka confirmsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityUkrainian man sentenced to six years for attempting to smuggle draft dodger to BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics
- Politics, SecurityPoland’s Tusk calls for tougher measures to stop asylum seekersThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBelarus’ deficit in goods trade widens to $2.6 billion in January-MayThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Security, SocietyDrones, energetic materials new majors in Belarusian higher educationThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- Politics, SecurityŁukašenka accuses West of militarization ahead of Zapad 2025 drillThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- EconomyPrivate companies’ overdue loan debt rises six-fold year on yearThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyIndividuals’ overdue debt on loans up 23.6 percentThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityDead Eritrean found near shared border with Latvia, Belarus saysThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Germany news, PoliticsGerman MPs join For a Democratic Belarus group’s new lineupThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyPutin’s crony delivering goods from occupied Ukraine to BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsReprisals: concerns grow over jailed pundit Kaściuhova’s healthThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyLibyan delegation in MinskThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyUpper house approves fines for vegetable shortagesThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsŁukašenka says Belarusians should be grateful to his government for staying out warThe material is available only to POZIRK+