Two illegal migrants turned back at Lithuania-Belarus border

Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT) reported on Friday that two illegal migrants were turned back at the border with Belarus over the past day.

Latvian border guards repelled 111 migrants on Thursday, while Poland recorded no attempts to cross its border illegally on Wednesday, according to the Baltic News Service (BNS).

Latvia has faced increasing migratory pressure from Belarus in recent times. Data from the Interior Ministry shows that secondary migration flows from Latvia to Lithuania have risen sharply, with the number of foreigners detained in Lithuania increasing from around 300 in January–June of previous years to over 1,200 this year.

So far in 2026, Lithuania has denied entry to 907 illegal migrants. Last year, there were over 1,600 attempts to enter the country illegally from Belarus, compared to 1,002 in the previous year. Since the start of the migration crisis instigated by Belarus, Lithuanian border guards have prevented more than 25,500 foreigners from entering the country illegally.

The surge of migrants into the EU’s eastern members via Belarus began in 2021, with Western nations accusing Minsk of orchestrating the crisis.