Czech foreign minister welcomes Baghdad's decision to suspend flights to Minsk

Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhánek has welcomed the Iraqi government's decision to suspend allflights between Baghdad and Minsk in an attempt to stop illegal immigration of Iraqis to Lithuania. Mr Kulhánek said other countries should also consider restricting flights to Minsk.

In the past few months, Lithuania has faced a surge of mostly Iraqi migrants. It says that’s due to retaliation by Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko after the EU put sanctions on his country over diverting a plane to Minsk and arresting a dissident aboard.

Over 4,000 migrants, mainly from Iraq, have crossed into Lithuania from Belarus Since the start of the year, compared to just around 80 in 2020. Earlier this week, European Council President Charles Michel has condemned the Belarusian regime for using illegal migration as a political tool.