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Moldova receives US vaccines as Lithuania builds fence
Summary
A look back at two regional developments reported around 10 July 2021, on vaccine aid for Moldova and a new border barrier in Lithuania.
What was happening on Europe's eastern edge on 10 July 2021? Two developments stood out: a vaccine donation to Moldova and a border fence going up in Lithuania.
On 10 July 2021, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced that the United States had donated 500,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to Moldova. Moldovan President Maia Sandu praised the United States for the deployment of the vaccines to the country.
The day before, on 9 July 2021, Lithuania began building a fence along its border with Belarus, at a reported cost of $48 million. A week earlier, Lithuania had declared a state of emergency because of a rise in the number of undocumented migrants, mostly Syrians, crossing from Belarus. Vilnius accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of deliberately trying to destabilise the country by encouraging and allowing the illegal crossings.
