Lithuania seeks compensation from Belarus for migrant crisis

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuania is seeking up to 120 million euros in compensation from Belarus, accusing its eastern neighbor of orchestrating the illegal immigration of thousands of people. Since 2021, when the European Union imposed sanctions on Belarus and its longtime authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, a growing number of migrants, mainly from Africa and the Middle East, have sought to cross illegally into Lithuania, an EU member state. The Lithuanian foreign minister says it has handed a diplomatic note to Belarus, demanding compensation. On Wednesday, Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska said “what the Belarusian regime is doing is not a natural migration route.”