Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda believes that the migrant crisis at the Belarusian border is over. He told Radio Lithuania that the state of emergency could be lifted in the border area. The procedure was supposed to end on January 14.
Lithuania declared a state of emergency in November when thousands of migrants from Belarus tried to cross the border. Border guards brought back more than 8,000 people within a few months. More than 4,000 people crossed the road illegally and applied for asylum in Lithuania.
Since the beginning of the year, the number of attempts to cross the border has decreased. On the last Sunday and Monday, as far as I know, no one tried to cross the Lithuanian border illegally from Belarus.
President Noseda stressed that the state of emergency is a “powerful tool” that can be used “in exceptional cases”. He said the authorities could declare a state of emergency again if the situation worsens.
Poland and Latvia have also seen a large influx of asylum seekers from Belarus in recent months. The European Union has accused Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of allowing migrants to arrive from countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Belarus then sends these people across the border with EU countries. Lukashenko will do so in response to the sanctions imposed by the European Union after the violent suppression of the protests.
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