Migrants allegedly tried to drag Lithuanian border guard into Belarus

Migrants who emerged from a tunnel during a clash with Lithuanian border guards in late July allegedly tried to drag one officer into Belarus, but he managed to escape, LRT reported, citing the Lrytas news portal and its sources.

According to Lrytas, a fight broke out between border guards and migrants who had emerged from the tunnel. One Lithuanian officer was beaten, while another was allegedly dragged towards the Belarusian side before breaking free.

Vitalijus Jagminas, head of the Vilnius County Pretrial Investigation Institutions Trade Union, told the portal that the officer who was dragged away was reportedly on sick leave.

Lina Laurinaitytė, a representative of the State Border Guard Service, told ELTA that the service would not comment because pretrial investigations into the incident are under way.

The Delfi news portal reported that a group of migrants planning to enter Lithuania illegally through a tunnel attacked border guards in Lazdijai District in late July. The incident took place on July 26 in the territory of the Kapčiamiestis border station, near the Belarusian border.

According to the report, border guards discovered the tunnel and detained several migrants who had attempted to pass through it. About 20 more people then emerged from the tunnel and attacked the officers.

Lazdijai politician Vilma Danauskienė disclosed the previously unpublicised incident on Facebook on Wednesday. In her post, she asked VSAT chief R. Liubajevas to explain why four border guards had been sent to an operation in which they allegedly had to confront more than 20 migrants armed with sticks and stones.

Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas said he had been formally informed about the incident earlier, but had only been told that the digging of a tunnel had been stopped.

A service inspection into the actions of the VSAT leadership was launched after the incident became known. A pretrial investigation into illegal crossing of the state border was opened on July 27 in the area of operation of the Kapčiamiestis border station, part of the Varėna Border Guard District.

The investigation was later expanded and reclassified to examine possible preparations to illegally transport people across the state border. The authorities also decided to examine the actions of officers in order to clarify the circumstances surrounding the conduct of the responsible VSAT officials. Investigators are also determining whether the migrants resisted the border guards.