Lithuania seeks compensation of as much as 120 million euros from Belarus, which it claims has been facilitating the immigration of thousands of people, mainly from Africa and the Middle East. From 2021, when the European Union first sanctioned Belarus and Alexander Lukashenko, its president, the number of migrants attempting to cross into Lithuania as a means of entering the EU has jumped dramatically.
On Thursday, the Lithuanian foreign ministry announced having handed over a diplomatic note to Belarus demanding compensation. Lithuania erected a barbed wire fence along its 679-kilometre border with Belarus after thousands of migrants crossed into its territory in 2021. Since then, Lithuania has refused entry to a total of 20,000 migrants from Belarus.
The 120 million euros is to cover expenses that Lithuania “suffered not only by keeping migrants, but also by strengthening our border control, infrastructure that we did not have,” Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska told reporters in Vilnius mid-week.
