{"id":186856,"date":"2026-05-08T16:48:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T13:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/186856\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T16:48:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T13:48:55","slug":"irregular-belarus-eu-crossings-peak-on-may-7","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/186856\/","title":{"rendered":"Irregular Belarus-EU crossings peak on May 7"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

May 8, Pozirk. <\/strong>The neighboring European Union countries did not allow at least 138 undocumented third-country foreigners to cross irregularly via Belarus yesterday, with 131 attempts targeting Latvia and seven, Lithuania, according to Pozirk<\/em>\u2018s analysis of border guards\u2019 data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latvia reported a similar number of attempts on April 18, with 171 irregular crossings and on April 16, with 103. Poland has not recorded any attempts since April 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the first week of May, Belarus\u2019 western neighbors thwarted 532 irregular crossings with the total since the year\u2019s start at 3,396 attempts. Latvia was the primary target, accounting for nearly 74 percent of attempts, followed by Lithuania with 21 percent and Poland, with 5 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flow of people desperate to cross into 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

In June 2021, the Belarusian government suspended a readmission agreement with the EU in response to sanctions that followed the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latvia, Lithuania and Poland call the migration crisis a \u201chybrid attack\u201d orchestrated by Minsk and Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prime ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland signed a joint declaration on February 26 to strengthen cooperation and beef up border security and respond to hybrid threats. The governments committed \u201cto resist the instrumentalization of migration and other hybrid threats at the external borders of the EU, including land, sea, and airspace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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