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Lithuanian security forces patrol a refugee camp near the Lithuanian capital Vilnius
Photo: TOMS KALNINS / EPA
In Lithuania, the power game between the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko and the European Union (EU) is getting worse. Because of the large number of illegally arriving migrants, the Baltic EU member now wants to use the army on the border with Belarus. President Gitanas Nauseda signed a corresponding decree on Friday, as reported by the BNS news agency. Parliament had previously asked for it.
For weeks, Lithuania has been struggling with an increased influx of migrants, especially from the Middle East, across the border with Belarus. In this year alone, Vilnius reported more than 4,000 illegal border crossings. The Belarusian ruler Lukashenko announced at the end of May that Minsk would no longer prevent migrants from continuing to travel to the EU. According to the EU, the 66-year-old is instrumentalizing the migrants in order to retaliate against Western sanctions against his country. According to the state agency Belta, the authorities in Minsk accused Poland of bringing migrants to the border with Belarus.
According to the new decree, the Lithuanian military will now have extended rights in the border area.
Vehicles and people can be stopped and searched.
The use of unspecified »special equipment« is also allowed.
The soldiers will coordinate their actions with border guards and secret services.
According to research by the so-called dossier team supported by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the authoritarian authorities in Minsk have systematically brought migrants to the border with the EU.
According to documents from the team, the Belarusian state travel company Zentrkurort is said to have arranged for dozens of visas to be issued to people from Iraq in May.
The tourism agency is subordinate to the presidential administration Lukashenko.
