In Lithuania, which is a member of the EU = European Union, illegal immigrants from neighboring Belarus are increasing rapidly.
Lithuanian foreign ministers have accused the Lukashenko administration, which opposes EU sanctions, of deliberately crossing borders of immigrants.
In Lithuania, the number of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and African countries via neighboring Belarus is increasing rapidly, and according to border security authorities, it has reached about 1660 people.
This is more than 20 times the total number for the last year, and the Lithuanian government is busy with measures such as laying barbed wire along the border between the two countries, which stretches nearly 700 kilometers east to west.
Under these circumstances, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Alexander Lukashenko said on the 12th that it was "used as a political weapon", and the Belarusian Lukashenko administration intentionally crossed the border of domestic immigrants in opposition to EU sanctions to which Lithuania also belongs. I accused him of doing so.
Lukashenko's administration continues to crack down on anti-government protests, and in May it forced landing of passenger planes, detained anti-government journalists on board, and imposed sanctions from the EU one after another. It has been.
Belarus has said it has managed borders under an agreement with the EU, but President Lukashenko criticized EU sanctions on the 6th of this month, saying, "Immigrants want to go to warm and cozy Europe. You can go as you like, "he said, allowing immigrants to cross the border illegally.
EU "use immigrants like weapons unacceptable"
EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said at a press conference on Wednesday that the surge in illegal immigrants from Belarus to Lithuania "is unacceptable to use immigrants as weapons and drive them to the border." , Condemned Belarus' response.
"We have a border guard agency to respond to the immigration crisis. We will dispatch it if requested by Lithuania," he said, saying that the EU is ready to respond in some circumstances. Clarified the idea of.