As Poland steps up border checks with Lithuania starting next week, travelers entering Poland will be subject to controls at 13 checkpoints, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) said on Friday.
Poland will introduce the additional checks from 1 a.m. Lithuanian time on Monday, July 7, according to the SBGS.
The checks will take place at 13 designated checkpoints: Ogrodniki (on the Lithuanian side: Janaslavas, Lazdijai, Lazdijai District), Budzisko (Salaperaugis, Kalvarija, Kalvarija Municipality), Trakiszki (railway checkpoint, Mockava, Kalvarija Municipality), Grzybina (Varteliai, Vištytis, Vilkaviškis District), Sudawskie (Vygreliai, Vilkaviškis District), Krejwiany (Liubavas, Vilkaviškis District), Poszeszupie (Žiogaičiai, Reketija, Kalvarija Municipality), Trompole (Trumpiai, Kalvarija Municipality), Krejwiany (Senieji Alksnėnai, Kalvarija Municipality), Burbiszki (Galiniai, Lazdijai District), Dusznica (Tarnauka, Lazdijai District), Podlaski (Kalėdiškiai, Lazdijai District), and Berżniki (Kauknoris, Kapčiamiestis, Lazdijai District).
Giedrius Mišutis, spokesperson for the SBGS, told BNS on Friday that Polish authorities have not clarified the exact scope of the inspections. “We have no information that 100 percent of vehicles will be checked,” he said.
According to the SBGS, Polish officials also informed that the so-called green belt — areas where the border runs through fields, forests, and along water bodies — will be monitored and protected.
As previously reported by BNS, Poland announced that it would temporarily reinstate checks at its borders with Germany and Lithuania starting July 7, citing the need to curb illegal immigration.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that the checks on the Lithuanian border are necessary to prevent migrants crossing from Belarus.
According to the SBGS, 352 illegal migrants were detained in the first six months of this year after entering Latvia from Belarus and attempting to reach Western Europe via Lithuania and Poland. This represents a 2.5-fold increase compared to the same period last year.
During the same period, the SBGS opened 25 pre-trial investigations into suspected human smuggling across the state border and arrested 31 smugglers. In most cases, the migrants had been smuggled from Latvia, and in one case, from Poland.
According to SBGS data, 5,914 migrants have attempted to enter Latvia from Belarus this year and were turned back — nearly seven times more than the number of attempted crossings into Lithuania. Meanwhile, 14,975 migrants have already tried to enter Poland this year and have been pushed back at the border.
Source: BNS
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