EU border agency to police Lithuania-Belarus frontier from next week

FILE PHOTO: Frontex's Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri presents the annual report of the EU's border agency in Brussels, Belgium January 17, 2020. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo

VILNIUS (Reuters) - European Union border agency Frontex will deploy 60 border guards to police Lithuania's frontier with Belarus next week after a surge in migrants crossing illegally, its executive director said on Monday.

In response to EU sanctions, President Alexander Lukashenko has said Belarus will no longer stop people trying to enter Lithuania. Vilnius has accused Minsk since then of flying in migrants from abroad to send illegally into the 27-nation bloc.