{"id":198319,"date":"2026-08-03T12:42:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T09:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198319\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T12:42:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T09:42:27","slug":"vilnius-accuses-minsk-of-helping-migrants-build-clandestine-border-tunnels","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198319\/","title":{"rendered":"Vilnius accuses Minsk of helping migrants build clandestine border tunnels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

August 3, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>The Belarusian authorities help undocumented third-country foreigners build tunnels under the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, LRT<\/em> reports, citing Rustamas Liubajevas, head of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, Lithuanian border guards have already found about ten tunnels used for irregular border crossings, he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction typically begins on Belarusian territory, continues beneath the state border and extends as far as possible into Lithuania to \u201cmake it more difficult to detect the moment of illegal border crossing,\u201d Liubajevas said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The longest section of a clandestine tunnel discovered in Lithuania reportedly measured about 25 meters, and the tunnel’s total length reached up to 40 meters. Some tunnels were dug as deep as eight meters and reinforced with wooden supports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a complex task requiring specific skills and logistics, as timber is needed to reinforce the tunnel,\u201d Liubajevas said, adding that such activity indicated the Belarusian side’s active involvement, possibly through logistical support or by allowing foreigners to operate in the border zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such developments indicate that authorities in Minsk are most likely not abandoning their efforts to maintain tensions along the shared border, the official noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flow of people eager 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. Lithuania has thwarted about 25,600 irregular crossings since the start of the migration crisis in 2021.<\/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

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