Lithuania says Belarus backed illegal migrants’ attempt to cross border

September 13, BPN. Lithuanian border guards recorded another attempt by illegal migrants to enter Lithuania from Belarus. The migrants were assisted by “Belarusian services or their minions,” Delfi.lt reported on September 13, quoting the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service.

“There is no doubt at all that illegal migrants happened to be there and crossed the damaged barrier with the help of Belarusian border guards,” the service said.

The incident was recorded on video on September 12 in the Vilnius region. The footage shows two masked men running up to the fence to cut the wire as a group of people wait nearby.

The incident was reported to the nearest border patrol, which arrived at the scene in less than a minute, forcing the illegal migrants and masked men to withdraw.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border dates back to the spring of 2021. It escalated on November 8, 2021, when thousands of migrants set up a camp near the Polish border. The Baltic states and Poland accused Belarusian authorities of creating the trouble at the border, while the latter blamed it on the West.

Migration figures had dropped significantly by the time Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, but have risen more recently.