Illegal Belarus-EU border crossings soar to 74 in 24 hours

February 28, Pozirk. The European Union (EU) has not allowed at least 74 migrants to enter illegally from Belarus over the past day.

The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service thwarted six illegal border crossing attempts on February 27 and 30 attempts, on February 26. Their Latvian colleagues did not record border violations on Tuesday but said four foreigners tried to cross into the EU on Monday.

The Polish Border Guard said 68 foreigners tried to illegally cross the Belarusian-Polish border yesterday, following 23 attempts a day earlier.

Since the start of 2024, the EU thwarted 464 illegal border crossings on its shared border with Belarus, with 288 attempts via Poland, 53 via Latvia and 27 via Lithuania.

In 2023, illegal border crossings between Belarus and the EU soared by 32 percent with at least 42,078 attempts, including 25,571 via Poland, 13,863 via Latvia and 2,644 via Lithuania.

Pozirk’s analysis of daily stats indicated fluctuated tension at the Belarusian-EU border throughout 2023 with a significant decrease by the end of the year and in early 2024.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian-EU border started in spring 2021 after Alaksandar Łukašenka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent migrants from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU. It escalated in November 2021, with hundreds of migrants storming the Polish border.

The Baltic states and Poland accused Belarusian authorities of creating the trouble, while the latter blamed it on the West.

In August 2023, the interior ministers of Poland and the Baltic States warned that they would close the border with Belarus in case of a surge in illegal migration.