Lithuania will deploy members of the armed forces to its border with Belarus, according to a decree signed by the Lithuanian president on Friday, to counter a sudden increase in illegal migration.
President Gitanas Nauseda signed the decree expanding the powers of the military in the border area, following a request from parliament, news agency BNS reported.
The move allows the military to stop and search people and vehicles, as well as permitting them to use unspecified "special equipment."
The armed forces are to coordinate their activities with the border guards and intelligence service.
There has been a sudden major increase in the number of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, crossing the border from Belarus to Lithuania in recent weeks.
So far, Vilnius has recorded more than 4,000 illegal entries. The situation has stabilized in the past few days, according to comments made by Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite on Friday.
At the end of May, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said the country would no longer stop migrants from entering the European Union, in response to sanctions imposed by the bloc.
Minsk has also accused Poland of bringing migrants to the border with Belarus, state news agency Belta reported.
Belarus has repeatedly brought migrants to the EU border, according to research by the investigative journalist collective Dossier Team, which is supported by Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
The Belarusian state travel company Zentrkurort allegedly arranged for dozens of visas to be issued to people from Iraq in May, according to the Dossier Team.
The EU sanctions on Belarus were imposed in response to the violent crackdown on protests unleashed after a disputed election returned Lukashenko to power for a sixth consecutive term.
