OREANDA-NEWS. The Lithuanian Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal by the Interior Ministry to introduce a state of emergency in the areas near the border with Belarus, Delfi reports. 

"The decision has been made in view of the aggravated situation in the border area; we are submitting it to the parliament for approval,"- Prime Minister Ingrida Shimonite said. Under the current procedure, the state of emergency must be approved by the country's Sejm upon the request of the government.

State of emergency is proposed to be imposed for a month from midnight of November 10. It will be imposed in a 5 km band on the whole length of the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, as well as in the registration and detention facilities for migrants and refugees and 200 meters around them.

In the areas where the state of emergency has been declared, there will be restrictions on communication for foreigners, as well as restrictions on entry and exit, and gatherings and meetings are prohibited.

The day before, a large group of refugees was spotted in Belarus near the highway leading to the border with Poland. Later they tried to break down the barbed wire fence and get into EU territory.

A meeting of the crisis headquarters with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence was held in Warsaw in connection with the events on the Polish-Belarusian border. Franak Viachorka, adviser to Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanowska, told The Insider what response measures the Polish and EU authorities were discussing and why Lukashenka was escalating the migration crisis.