The Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union will hold a meeting with the EU ministers of Home Affairs on 18 August to discuss the many migrants trying to cross the border illegally from Belarus into Lithuania.
Representatives of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, EU's law enforcement agency, Europol, and the European Asylum Support Office will also take part in the video discussion, the Slovenian government announced on Friday (6 August). Slovenia currently holds the EU presidency. According to a government spokesman, the EU is "facing a serious security threat" and Belarus is using illegal migration as a weapon.
The EU claims that Belarus aims to set up borders for the passage of migrants to Europe, mainly Iraqis and Afghans, to pressure the power bloc to drop EU sanctions against the country.
In a reaction, the EU summoned the Belarusian envoy to Brussels on Thursday (5 August) and held talks with the Iraqi government after it accused Belarus of creating a refugee problem in response to the sanctions.
In July, Lithuania declared a state of emergency due to the sudden increased influx of migrants from Belarus. According to Lithuanian politicians, the number of flights between Belarus and Afghanistan has increased as part of a strategy to push more migrants towards Lithuania. Lithuania is building a border wall and Frontex has doubled its presence on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. Brussels also discussed with the Iraqi government this week the possibility of cancelling flights between Baghdad and Minsk.
