Lithuania turns back six irregular migrants at Belarus border

Lithuanian border guards prevented six irregular migrants from entering the country from Belarus this week, the State Border Guard Service reported Thursday.

Latvian authorities turned back 90 migrants on Wednesday, while Polish officers stopped four attempts on Tuesday. Since the start of this year, Lithuania has denied entry to 769 irregular migrants at its border with Belarus.

Last year, there were over 1,600 recorded attempts to cross into Lithuania from Belarus at unauthorized locations, compared to 1,002 such attempts the previous year. Since the start of the migration crisis orchestrated by Belarus in 2021, Lithuanian border guards have blocked more than 25,000 foreigners from entering the country illegally.

The surge of migrants toward eastern EU member states began in 2021, with Western officials accusing Minsk of deliberately facilitating the movement.