(AP) Poland is sending 500 additional army troops and special vehicles to its border with Belarus to strengthen it against increasing migrant pressures which the government says is orchestrated by Belarus and Russia to destabilize the European Union. “We are dealing with […]
(Politico) Fifteen minutes outside the town of Vathy stands a just-completed compound, surrounded by a double barbed-wire fence. The entrance, only open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., is equipped with turnstiles, magnetic gates and X-ray machines. Guards check both ID cards […]
(AP) The prime ministers of Poland and Lithuania said Friday that tighter security at their borders with Belarus was the best way to ease pressure from migrant inflows there, as they expect what they called a “hybrid attack” from Belarus to continue. […]
(AP) Austria’s minister for the European Union on Thursday accused Turkey of using migrant flows as a means to pressure the 27-member bloc for its own purposes and warned that the EU won’t be “blackmailed” by any country. Karoline Edtstadler said countries […]
(AP) European Union auditors said Monday that the 27-nation bloc’s program for deporting migrants is not working well but they warned that any attempts to force countries to take their citizens back by coercion could be counterproductive. The EU has been deeply […]
(AFP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel appealed to Belarus to help migrants instead of trying to send them across the border into the European Union, branding these attempts “hybrid attacks.” On a visit to Poland, Merkel addressed the influx of migrants — mostly […]
(Reuters) Lithuania on Thursday sent five Afghan migrants back to Belarus shortly after they had crossed the border despite the European Court of Human Rights earlier saying they should be allowed to stay. The migrants had tried to enter Lithuania unsuccessfully at […]
(AP) Poland’s parliament voted Monday to uphold the state of emergency along the border with Belarus that was declared last week amid migration pressure. The vote came after Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told lawmakers that the country faces a threat from Russia […]
(AP) A top European Union official condemned Belarus and expressed support for Poland, Lithuania and Latvia on Friday as a state of emergency took effect in areas of eastern Poland following a surge in illegal migration. EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, […]
(AP) Polish President Andrzej Duda declared a state of emergency in areas along the border with Belarus Thursday, following a surge in illegal migration. Poland is now the third European Union member to impose a state of emergency in areas bordering Belarus […]
(AP) Poland’s government asked the president Tuesday to declare a state of emergency along the border with Belarus as it tries to stop migrants from entering from the neighboring country. The government cited the potential risk from foreign actors and the actions […]
(AP) Thirteen activists were detained Sunday in Poland for trying to destroy part of a barbed-wire barrier that Polish authorities have erected along the border with Belarus to stop migrants from crossing in. The activists said it was an act of protest […]
(Politico) European countries should screen Afghan refugees upon entry into the bloc to mitigate security risks, the EU’s top home affairs official said Thursday. Europe “needs to make sure that we do not take in people that could pose a security threat […]
(AP) Poland’s prime minister insisted Tuesday that efforts by Middle Eastern migrants to enter the European Union country from neighboring Belarus are part of a plot by the Minsk regime to sow political instability in the EU. Mateusz Morawiecki spoke in Kuznica, […]
(AFP) Poland on Monday announced plans for a barbed-wire fence along its border with Belarus following an influx of migrants which countries in the region called a “hybrid attack” on the EU. Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said the fence would be 2.5 […]
(Reuters) Lithuania said on Monday it would complete a 508-km (315-mile) fence along its border with Belarus by September next year to stop migrants it says are crossing in record numbers orchestrated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Lithuania, Latvia and Poland have […]
(Reuters) The leaders of Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia came together on Saturday to condemn Belarus for allowing migrants to illegally cross its borders into the European Union. “All European Union member states have a duty to protect borders and to stop […]
(AP) Poland’s prime minister vowed Thursday that his country would stand firm and block migrants, mostly from Iraq and Afghanistan, who have been seeking to enter from neighboring Belarus. Poland accuses the authoritarian government of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of sending the […]
(AP) Poland has deployed hundreds of troops and is laying barbed wire along its border with Belarus to stop the arrival of migrants seeking to enter the country, officials said Wednesday. Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said more than 900 Polish troops were […]
(Reuters) A dozen Belarusian officers in riot gear illegally crossed into Lithuanian territory on Tuesday while pushing a group of 35 Iraqi migrants over the border, Lithuania’s border guard service said. Lithuania, a member of the European Union, accuses Belarus of deliberately […]
(AP) An influx of migrants from Iraq and elsewhere into Lithuania allegedly abetted by neighboring Belarus appears to have stopped, but with a pile of asylum applications to process and local communities angry about nearby migrant camps, the Lithuanian government faces an […]
(Reuters) The number of migrants illegally entering the European Union by crossing the Western Balkans has almost doubled this year, EU border agency Frontex said on Thursday, with the majority coming from Syria and Afghanistan. Frontex said 22,600 migrants were detected illegally […]
(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 […]
(Reuters) Latvian border guards turned back dozens of migrants into Belarus overnight under a new state of emergency designed to stem a flow of arrivals the European Union says is orchestrated by Minsk. At daybreak on Wednesday some 30 migrants — including […]
(Reuters) Latvia declared a state of emergency along its border on Tuesday and Lithuania decided to erect a fence in new measures to deter migrants they say Belarus is encouraging to cross illegally in order to pressure European states. Rising numbers of […]
(Reuters) Six EU member states have warned the bloc’s executive against halting deportations of rejected Afghan asylum seekers arriving in Europe despite major advances of Taliban militants in their country. The Taliban, fighting to reimpose strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster, […]
(Reuters) A record number of migrants have crossed the Polish border with Belarus since Friday, the Border Guard said on Monday, amid accusations Minsk is using illegal crossings to pressure European Union states. Poland and Lithuania have seen a surge in illegal […]
(Reuters) European Union home affairs ministers will discuss a surge of illegal border crossings from Belarus to EU member state Lithuania at an extraordinary meeting on Aug. 18, the Slovenian EU presidency said on Friday. Representatives of the EU border agency Frontex […]
(Reuters) Poland accused Belarus of sending a growing number of migrants over the border in retaliation for Warsaw’s decision this week to give refuge to Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, a Belarusian athlete who refused to return home from the Tokyo Olympics. A deputy interior […]
(AP) The president of Belarus on Thursday ordered the country’s security forces to tighten control over the border with Lithuania, which earlier this week started turning away immigrants attempting to cross in from Belarus. Lithuania, a member of the European Union, has […]
(Politico) The EU is ramping up pressure on Iraq to stop its airlines from flying to Belarus, which helps Minsk send asylum seekers into the EU in retaliation against sanctions imposed by the bloc. On Thursday, there were signs that the pressure […]
(Politico) The number of migrants crossing into Lithuania from Belarus could top 10,000 by the end of the summer, Lithuania’s foreign minister warned as he urged the EU to “step up” actions to stop the arrivals. Gabrielius Landsbergis told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook […]
(AP) Lithuania has ordered its border guards to turn away, by force if needed, migrants attempting to enter the Baltic country, as a surge of Iraqis and others coming in from neighboring Belarus has emerged as a major foreign policy issue. Lithuania […]
(AP) European Union officials on Monday pledged millions of euros to help Lithuania tackle a migrant crisis that it blames on the government of neighboring Belarus and its authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko. Ylva Johansson, the EU commissioner of home affairs, arrived in […]
(Reuters) The European Union will consider sanctions against migrant smugglers and those involved in human trafficking to address a surge in “irregular” border crossings from Belarus, the bloc’s top diplomat on Friday said. Lithuania, an EU member state, has reported an uptick […]
(AP) The European Union’s top migration official is urging member countries to help Lithuania beef up surveillance on its border with Belarus and not to give in to political pressure from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Lithuania’s border guard service said it detained […]
(AFP) With a pair of binoculars, a German police officer working for the EU border agency Frontex scans an empty field crossed by the Belarus-Lithuania border on the lookout for migrants. The Baltic EU member state has seen more than 2,000 arrivals […]
(Reuters) European Union border agency Frontex will deploy 60 border guards with helicopters and vehicles to Lithuania’s frontier with Belarus next week, after a surge in migrants crossing illegally, which the EU says has been orchestrated by Minsk. In response to EU […]
(AP) Iraq’s foreign minister said Thursday his government would investigate trafficking networks responsible for smuggling hundreds of Iraqis into Europe, specifically via Belarus to Lithuania. Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein made the promise after a meeting in Baghdad with his visiting Lithuanian counterpart, […]
(AP) Mustafa Hussein Hamad kicked a dirty ball between two old tires in the schoolyard where he spends most of his time. He and dozens of other migrants are fenced in at an old school after walking at night through the thick […]
(Reuters) Lithuania’s foreign minister and the EU’s top diplomat accused Belarus on Monday of using illegal migrants as a political weapon to put pressure on the European Union because of the bloc’s sanctions on Minsk. Belarus was flying in migrants from abroad […]
(AP) The European Union’s border agency is pledging to “significantly” step up its support to Lithuania in the coming days “due to the growing migratory pressure at Lithuania’s border with Belarus” that the Baltic nation is trying to contain. The decision by […]
(AP) Lithuania began Friday to erect a fence along its border with Belarus to deter third-country migrants from entering, a week after Vilnius declared a state of emergency to address a sharp rise in migratory flows — which it says Belarusian authorities […]
(Reuters) Lithuania on Wednesday accused Belarus of flying in migrants from abroad to send to the European Union and said it would build a barrier on the border and deploy troops to prevent them crossing illegally into its territory. Belarus decided to […]
(Reuters) The European Union “speaks with one voice” in condemning a decision by Belarus to allow illegal migrants to cross into Lithuania in response to EU sanctions, European Council President Charles Michel said on Monday. The Lithuanian government declared a countrywide emergency […]
(Reuters) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday pledged support for Lithuania, which is experiencing a quickly growing flow of migrants though its 679-kilometre border with Belarus. The Lithuanian government declared a country-wide emergency on Friday as 150 migrants crossed […]
(AP) Belarus on Monday retaliated to the European Union sanctions by halting cooperation on stemming illegal migration and denying entry to EU officials. The EU on Thursday slapped new bruising economic sanctions on Belarus over last month’s diversion of a passenger jet […]
(AP) Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has warned that his country will not try to stem a flow of illegal migrants to the European Union, a move that comes after the EU tightened its sanctions on the country. The EU and the […]
(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 […]
(BBC) Hungary’s Viktor Orban has ended a controversial visit to Boris Johnson by acknowledging he is anti-immigration and standing by an earlier condemnation of Muslim migrants as “invaders.” He said they had destroyed the border and marched through the country. Downing Street […]
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