Lithuania begins building barrier on border with Belarus to prevent migrants crossing

Lithuania began building a barrier along its border with Belarus on Friday, the army defence chief's spokeswoman said, after accusing Belarusian authorities of flying in migrants from abroad to send illegally into the European Union. The first stretch of barrier will run 500 metres (1,640 feet) in length, measure 1.8 metres (six feet) in height and consist of concertina and barbed wire, spokeswoman Ruta Montvile told Reuters.

Lithuania began building a barrier along its border with Belarus on Friday, the army defense chief's spokeswoman said, after accusing Belarusian authorities of flying in migrants from abroad to send illegally into the European Union.

The first stretch of barrier will run 500 meters (1,640 feet) in length, measure 1.8 meters (six feet) in height and consist of concertina and barbed wire, spokeswoman Ruta Montvile told Reuters. Lithuania, an EU member state, said on Wednesday it would put up the frontier barrier and deploy troops to prevent migrants crossing illegally into its territory. Belarus decided to allow migrants to enter Lithuania in retaliation for EU sanctions imposed after Minsk forced a Ryanair flight to land on its soil and arrested a dissident blogger who was on board.