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Lithuania’s parliament approves border fence with Belarus
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The parliament in Lithuania cleared the way for the construction of a border fence with neighboring Belarus. Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite announced on Wednesday that the law will cut the construction time of the border facility in half. The construction should therefore cost around 150 million euros. According to the construction plans, the length of the fence will be around half of the border. Bilotaite: “Without this physical barrier it is impossible to protect our borders, that is very clear. We had to make this decision very quickly.” Lithuania’s border with Belarus is also the EU’s external border. The government accuses Belarus President Alexandr Lukashenko of illegally sending migrants from third countries across the border to EU territory in return for the sanctions imposed on his country. Since the beginning of the year, according to the EU, more than 4,000 people have been registered “irregularly” crossing the border. Similar pictures from Lithuania’s neighbor Latvia – also an EU member and neighbor of Belarus. The government declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and sent the military to the border to help because more people from Belarus want to enter. Almost 300 people have been detained here since August 6th. In the coming week, the EU interior ministers will meet for a virtual crisis meeting on the subject. Iraq, the country from which many of the people come, has now suspended all flights to Belarus. Since then, the number of people entering Lithuania has fallen sharply.
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The government accuses Belarus of illegally sending migrants from third countries across the border into EU territory in return for sanctions that have been imposed.
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