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A Lithuanian soldier patrols the border with Belarus
Photo: Mindaugas Kulbis / AP
In Lithuania, the military has set up a base near the EU's eastern external border with Belarus.
The additional soldiers with whom the army supports the border protection of the Baltic EU country are housed on the operational base.
The armed forces announced this on Friday.
The so-called Forward Operating Base was set up in an industrial area in the town of Druskininkai near the border triangle with Belarus and Poland.
In view of the situation on the EU's external border with Belarus, Lithuania declared a state of emergency for a month last week - it applies along the border strip and five kilometers inland.
The government in Vilnius has also sent more police officers to the border, and the army has also been given more extensive powers.
In view of the situation, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) assured the country "full German solidarity".
Merkel and Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda held a telephone call on Friday about the "worrying situation on the border between Belarus and the European Union," as government spokesman Steffen Seibert said.
Lithuania is particularly affected by the situation due to its location on the EU's external border.
Meanwhile, European efforts to return people are continuing.
According to Seibert, Merkel telephoned the heads of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for this purpose.
NATO also pledged further support to Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
"We remain vigilant and are ready to help our allies," said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday during a visit to Berlin.
Ukraine strengthens border protection
Ukraine has also announced that it will strengthen its border security.
"The interior ministry's flight technology was used for the patrols - 15 helicopters, two planes, 44 drones," said Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyj in parliament in the capital Kiev on Friday.
In addition, around 8,500 border soldiers, national guards and police officers were stationed along the northern border.
In addition, the border is to be expanded by means of trenches, fences and watchtowers.
Meanwhile, there were renewed clashes between Polish border guards and people staying in Belarus on the Belarusian-Polish border.
As the border guard announced on Friday, hundreds tried again the previous evening to break through the border with Poland.
Poland's border guards accused the Belarusian authorities of providing tear gas to the people.
Stones were thrown from a group of 500 people on Thursday evening and tear gas was sprayed in the direction of the border guards.
45 people were arrested.
Belarus is evacuating provisional camp
Previously, the border guards of Belarus had evacuated the temporary refugee camp on the EU's external border with Poland, according to their own statements.
On Thursday, all refugees from the camp near the Bruzgi border crossing were brought "on a voluntary basis" to a nearby logistics center, said the Belarusian border guard
sol / dpa / afp / Reuters
