A tunnel dug from Belarus toward Lithuania that was discovered in July.
Amid a spate of tunnels being dug from Belarus into the EU, border authorities say Minsk is dismissing intelligence alerting it to migrant tunnel construction.
When a group of 15 migrants in "sand-stained clothing" were spotted moving through a forest in southeastern Latvia on August 10, border guards could not initially determine where the group had emerged from.After questioning the migrants, a border patrol spotted a brush-filled tunnel exit just 10 meters from Latvia's border fence with Belarus.
The exit of a tunnel discovered near the Belarus border fence in southeastern Latvia on August 11.
The underground passage was the first migrant tunnel discovered in Latvia, but only the latest of several dug into EU territory in recent months. Border authorities say Belarus has not moved to stop the tunnels, even when presented with real-time intelligence about their construction.Lina Laurinaityte, a spokesperson for the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service, told RFE/RL that “in a number of cases, after [Lithuanian border guards] informed Belarusian authorities about tunnel construction and provided information about the location, the Belarusian side has denied that any such activity was taking place.”She says the Belarusian response has been to claim that the indicated location has been checked and they have found nothing "despite [Lithuanian border guards] having clear evidence of the tunnel construction."Laurinaityte added that Lithuanian authorities have no proof that Belarus is directly involved in building the tunnels.
