{"id":139860,"date":"2025-05-26T11:56:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T08:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/139860\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"irregular-belarus-lithuania-crossings-picking-up-pace-since-may-22","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/139860\/","title":{"rendered":"Irregular Belarus-Lithuania crossings picking up pace since May 22"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (euobserver.com)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

May 26, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Irregular border crossings into Lithuania via Belarus have been on the rise since May 22 with at least 33 attempts thwarted last week, according to Pozirk<\/em>‘s analysis of border guards’ data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attempts resumed right after Lithuania’s Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas said that Vilnius had the migration crisis on the shared border with Belarus under control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe stand out with our efforts among the Baltic states and Poland because there are zero attempts to cross our border,\u201d the premier said on May 22, most likely referring to no irregular crossings since May 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, Vilnius also filed a lawsuit against Minsk with the UN International Court of Justice to hold the Belarusian regime responsible for allegedly orchestrating a massive influx of migrants to Lithuania. Paluckas said that the suit will keep the \u201cinstrumentalized migration\u201d on the agenda of political discussions in other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the start of 2025, Lithuanian border guards have thwarted 745 irregular border crossings from Belarusian territory. Lithuania accounted for 5.4 percent of attempts to cross into the European Union from Belarus; Latvia, 27.8 percent and Poland, 67 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, during the same period in 2024, Lithuania documented only 1.2 percent of the total irregular border crossings, followed by Latvia with 12 percent and Poland with 87 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flow of people desperate to get to the EU surged in spring 2021 after Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, angered by EU sanctions, had indicated that Minsk would not prevent asylum seekers from Africa and Asia from using Belarus as a route to the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus\u2019 western neighbors call the migration crisis a \u201chybrid attack\u201d orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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