EU stops 100 illegal migrants at Belarus border

February 21, BPN. The EU has not allowed 100 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service has not reported any attempts by migrants to cross the Belarusian-Lithuanian border for three consecutive days, but their Latvian colleagues thwarted three attempts on February 20.

The Polish Border Guard said that 97 foreigners, including nationals of Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran and Iraq tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 3,425 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 2,425 attempts via Poland, 643 via Latvia and 357 via Lithuania.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border dates back to the spring of 2021. It escalated in November 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 in February 2022, but have risen more recently.