Lithuania extends state of emergency on Belarus border

December 8, BPN. The Lithuanian parliament has extended the state of emergency on its border with Belarus and Russia until March 10, 2023.

The decision was passed with 73 votes in favor, eight against and 34 abstentions. The previous extension was approved on September 13.

Presenting the bill in Seimas on December 8, Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė said that the Belarusian airline Belavia had been flying from Dubai since December 1, while the Kaliningrad airport launched the Open Sky program (to facilitate foreign arrivals). In her opinion, it is possible that some of the people taking these routes can illegally enter the EU through the Lithuanian border.

The minister said Lithuanian border guards prevented about 11,000 illegal migrants from entering the country this year, and registered about 500 damages to the border fence.

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, 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.