Lithuania turns back 21 migrants at Belarus border

Lithuanian border guards turned back 21 migrants attempting to enter the country irregularly from Belarus over the past 24 hours, LRT reported Saturday, citing the State Border Guard Service.

Latvian border guards turned back 56 migrants on Friday, while Poland recorded no attempts to enter the country illegally on Thursday.

More than 1,400 migrants have been denied entry to Lithuania so far this year. Last year, there were more than 1,600 attempts to enter Lithuania from Belarus at unauthorised locations, compared with 1,002 the year before.

Since the start of the migration crisis caused by Belarus, Lithuanian border guards have prevented 26,000 foreign nationals from entering the country illegally.

The influx of migrants from Belarus to the eastern European Union member states began in 2021. Western countries accuse the Minsk regime of organising it.