(AP) Lithuania has detained nine Iraqi asylum-seekers who had entered the Baltic country from Belarus, officials said Monday, pointing a finger at Belarus for allegedly being involved in sending repeated groups of immigrants into Lithuania.
“It is obvious that a hybrid war is being waged against Lithuania, and illegal migration flows are one of the means,” Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said. Her country has voiced criticism of Belarus for its brutal crackdown following a presidential election there last year that the opposition says was rigged.
“Those flows of the illegal migrants who travel to Lithuania are not just random cases. These are well organized. There are flights from Baghdad and Istanbul to Minsk,” she said, referring to Iraqis who fly to the capital of Belarus.
