“There was a huge group of 450 people who tried to enter the territory of Poland by aggressive means. It does not seem to be an independent process. Such a large group from Asia and Africa could not have come together by itself. This is an attack organised by the Belarusian regime. We are monitoring this situation and are in constant contact with our colleagues in Poland,” Bilotaitė told reporters at the Interior Ministry on Thursday.
Only sporadic attempts to cross the Belarusian border unlawfully have been observed on Lithuania’s side recently, according to the minister. Meanwhile, the Polish-Belarusian border has been facing an average of 250 irregular crossing attempts a day.
“We want to reassure everyone that Lithuania has the situation under control and that the highest alert level is in place,” said Bilotaitė.
Rustamas Liubajevas, head of the State Border Guard Service (VSAT), told the press conference that the group tried to access Poland in the Bialowieza region some 100-150 kilometres away from the Lithuanian-Belarusian border.
“This section of the border is still under construction (&). So illegal migrants tried to force their way through the razor wire fence, there is no physical barrier yet. Thanks to the efforts of the Polish border service and the Polish army, the group of illegal migrants was repelled. They were throwing stones and other objects at the officers, and were also armed with improvised tools with nails aimed to target the Polish officers, but, thank God, any casualties among the Polish officers and among the migrants were prevented,” Liubajevas commented on the incident, adding that the migrants retreated deeper into Belarus after being pushed back by Polish officers.
The VSAT chief noted that the Polish armed forces were helping border officers to guard the border. If the need arises, Lithuania may also send soldiers to its Belarusian border, he said.
