(AFP) Ukraine has sent more than 38 tonnes of barbed wire to Lithuania as “humanitarian aid” as the EU country struggles to stem an influx of illegal migrants from neighbouring Belarus, authorities said on Thursday.
In July, Lithuania’s military started to put up barbed wire on the Belarus border to deter asylum seekers, most of whom are from the Middle East and Africa.
Lithuania, which has offered support to the Belarusian opposition, has accused the country’s strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately encouraging unauthorised arrivals of migrants in retaliation for sanctions against his regime.
“Ukraine has sent humanitarian aid to the Republic of Lithuania for security needs,” the emergencies service said in a statement.
