Lithuanian border guards turn back 17 irregular migrants from Belarus

Lithuanian border authorities prevented 17 irregular migrants from crossing into the country from Belarus last week, the State Border Guard Service reported on Tuesday.

According to the agency, Latvian border guards turned away 49 migrants on Monday, while Polish officials recorded no attempts on the same day. Since the start of this year, Lithuania has blocked 186 irregular migrants at its border.

In 2025, authorities registered over 1,600 attempts to enter Lithuania illegally from Belarus, compared to 1,002 such cases in the previous year. The surge in irregular migration to Eastern EU member states via Belarus began in 2021, with Western officials accusing Minsk of orchestrating the influx.