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In July, Lithuania set up barriers on the border with Belarus
Photo: JANIS LAIZANS / REUTERS
In view of numerous border crossings by migrants from the Middle East, Latvia has declared a regional state of emergency on its border with Belarus.
As the authorities of the Baltic country announced on Tuesday, around 200 migrants have been registered in the past 24 hours who entered the EU via the Belarusian-Latvian border.
The state of emergency should apply from Wednesday and be lifted on November 10th at the earliest.
The state of emergency means that the "border between Latvia and Belarus will be closed to practically everyone," said the Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins. Under the state of emergency provisions, security forces may in certain cases use physical force to push back migrants. Border officials are also not required to accept asylum applications from migrants during the state of emergency.
The EU accuses Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko of instrumentalizing migrants against the EU in order to retaliate for Western sanctions against his country.
According to the EU, several thousand people had traveled from Belarus to Lithuania since the beginning of the year, but Latvia is also affected.
In the coming week, the EU interior ministers will have a virtual crisis meeting over the refugee dispute with Minsk.
nek / AFP