VILNIUS, August 13. /TASS/. The situation with illegal migrants from Asia and Africa reaching Lithuania from Belarus has stabilized, Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said on Friday. 

"What we have been seeing at the border during this week points to the stabilization of the situation, but we should not relax. We must be ready for various scenarios," she said.

According to the Lithuanian interior ministry, about 200 migrants were stopped by Lithuanian border guards earlier in the week and sent back to Belarus. In all, 1,340 illegal migrants have been barred from entering Lithuania since August 3, when Lithuania imposed strict measures to tackle illegal migration, giving extended authorities to the border service. "The decision has been completely justified," Bilotaite said.

More than 4,000 illegal migrants have been detained at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border since the beginning of the year, which is 50 times as many as in 2020. In late May, Lukashenko said that his country has served as a barrier on the trafficking route of illegal migrants to Lithuania but, amid Western pressure, Minsk might stop performing this function.

Lithuania characterizes the situation as a migration crisis. Meanwhile, according to the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), as many as 47,231 asylum applications have been received in the first six months of 2021 in Germany, 32,212 — in France, and 25,823 — in Spain.