EU stops 57 illegal migrants at Belarus border

February 22, BPN. The EU has not allowed 57 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 four consecutive days, but their Latvian colleagues thwarted nine attempts on February 22.

The Polish Border Guard said that 48 foreigners, including nationals of Afghanistan, tried to illegally cross the border from Belarus.

Since the start of 2023, the EU has recorded a total of 3,482 attempts by illegal migrants to enter its territory, with 2,473 attempts via Poland, 652 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.