EU stops 45 illegal migrants at Belarus border

January 9, BPN. The European Union (EU) has not allowed 45 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day. 

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service did not record any illegal border crossing attempts on January 8, but their Latvian colleagues thwarted 10 attempts. 

The Polish Border Guard said that 35 foreigners tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus, including nationals of Somalia and Syria. 

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 671 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 373 attempts via Poland, 197 via Latvia and 101 via Lithuania.

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, 2022 but have risen more recently.