{"id":189694,"date":"2026-05-28T20:28:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/189694\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T20:28:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:28:28","slug":"irregular-belarus-eu-crossings-hit-seven-month-high-in-may","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/189694\/","title":{"rendered":"Irregular Belarus-EU crossings hit seven-month high in May"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

May 28, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>The neighboring European Union countries have not allowed at least 2,345 undocumented foreigners to cross irregularly via Belarus since the start of May, according to Pozirk<\/em>\u2019s analysis of border guards\u2019 data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The figure marked the highest monthly total in seven months, though still below 3,271 attempts recorded in October 2025. At the same time, irregular crossings stand lower than in May 2025, when 6,825 attempts were reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latvia has been the primary target of irregular crossings this month, accounting for nearly 94 percent of all attempts (2,200) since the start of May. Poland recorded 43 attempts and Lithuania, 102.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the start of 2026, Belarus\u2019 western neighbors have thwarted 5,209 irregular crossing attempts, a significant decline from 14,359 attempts recorded in the same period in 2025.<\/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

\n\n
\n \"\"