Twenty Belarusians arrive in Lithuania under humanitarian exception

Twenty Belarusians have arrived in Lithuania under a humanitarian exception to the coronavirus travel ban, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

A total of 34 Belarusians have been granted entry, but some of them have not come yet, it told BNS.

Interior Minister Rita Tamasuniene said earlier this month that Lithuania was ready to provide accommodation and protection for arriving people and to ensure compliance with the anti-coronavirus requirements.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the former opposition challenger, came to Lithuania shortly after the August 9 presidential election in Belarus and was granted protection.

The Cabinet granted the exception to Belarusians coming "for special humanitarian purposes" in mid-August after the Minsk regime started a brutal crackdown against peaceful protesters against the official presidential election result.