European Agency for Border and Coast Guard Frontex will send additional troops and helicopters to Lithuania to work on the border with Belarus. This was stated by the president of the Baltic republic, Gitanas Nauseda
According to him, the reason for such a step is the growing number of illegal migrants, who try to get to Lithuania through the border with Byelorussia.
“Together with the head of Frontex, Fabrice Ledgeri, we discussed the upcoming deployment of additional forces to strengthen control at the borders of Lithuania, provide monitoring and control traffic of illegal migrants across the EU eastern border: border guards, translators, border patrols, helicopters”, – Nauseda wrote in Twitter.
Earlier, on July 7, the Prime Minister of the Baltic States, Ingrida Shimonite, announced that Lithuania would start building a physical barrier on the border with Belarus. According to her, it should become a deterrent for organizers of illegal migration flows. Shimonite also announced that the army would be involved in patrolling the border.
On July 10, it became known that Vilnius intends to spend €42 million to strengthen the border with Belarus, including a surveillance system. This was reported by the German media group RND, citing Lithuanian Ambassador to Germany Ramūnas Misiulis. According to the diplomat, the EU shares the concern of Lithuania, so Frontex plans to send 30 border guards from the agency and several vehicles to the republic.
A statement published on the Frontex website on July 10 reads: “The European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex will significantly increase its support to Lithuania next week due to the growing migration pressure on the Lithuanian border with Belarus.”
It is noted that the European Permanent Corps is already assisting the country with border control and surveillance, and the scale of the operation, which began with the dispatch of a dozen corps members and patrol vehicles, will more than double.
The agency will also provide Lithuania with experts to help the country’s authorities collect data on illegal border crossings and facilitate the exchange of operational information.
“We are ready to increase the level of support and move more European Permanent Corps officers as well as equipment. We are increasing the pace and intensity of already planned measures. In addition, in close cooperation with Lithuanian authorities, we are preparing Operation Quick Border Intervention”, – said Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Ledgeri.
“People are fleeing from war”
As a reminder, Lithuania has recently reported an increase in the number of illegal migrants entering the country through the border with Belarus. In this regard, July 2, upon the request of the Lithuanian border guard, the country’s authorities declared an emergency situation.
According to the Deputy Commander of the Border Guard Service, Vidas Machaitis, the flow of migrants is constantly growing, which creates problems for the agency and the country as a whole. For his part, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said that the situation is tense and tends to worsen.
According to the Lithuanian authorities, since the beginning of 2021, 1,634 migrants, mostly from Iraq (680), Congo (200), Cameroon (118), Guinea (82) and Iran (68), have been detained on the border with Belarus.
At the same time, since the beginning of July, the number of migrants apprehended at the border has already reached a monthly record of 973. In comparison, 473 illegal immigrants were apprehended in June, 77 in May and only eight in March.
For the entire year 2020, 81 refugees were apprehended at the Lithuanian-Belarusian border.
To receive migrants, a tent camp was set up in the Lithuanian town of Pabrada at the Foreigners’ Registration Centre, with a capacity of 350 people.
Lithuania believes that Belarusian authorities are to blame for the situation. According to Gabrielius Landsbergis, this is Minsk’s way of responding to the EU sanctions.
The Belarusian authorities also acknowledge the problem on the border, but reject the accusations.
“If they stop financing various mutually beneficial projects in Belarus and impose sanctions, even sectoral … Let them not be offended that migrants run to them, because we will use the funds, previously allocated for stricter control of the borders, for the needs of ordinary people”, – said the head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Vladimir Makei.
President Alexander Lukashenko also commented on the situation. According to him, Minsk has always been responsible in fulfilling its obligations to combat illegal migration. He noted that the country will continue to do this, but “exactly as much as is necessary and beneficial” for Belarus and as much as it is “financially possible.”
Lukashenko also stated that the European Union itself is partly to blame for the situation as its policy favours the inflow of migrants.
“We will never keep anyone: they are not coming to us. They are coming to enlightened, warm, cozy Europe… And secondly, they have destroyed these countries. They actually destroyed Afghanistan and withdrew troops from there … People are fleeing from war, and running to where they were invited. The European Union also introduced appropriate benefits for those who go there”, – said Lukashenko during a meeting on counteraction to sanctions.
He also noted that he would not allow turning Belarus into a haven for illegal migrants.
“If someone thinks that we will close the border with Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine and will turn into a dumping ground for fugitives from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, they are simply mistaken, at least”, – concluded the head of Belarus.
“Deadlock in bilateral relations”
According to analysts, the problem with the flow of illegal migrants, who try to get to Lithuania through Belarus and then to other EU countries, has existed for not the first year. But earlier in the framework of bilateral cooperation between Minsk and Vilnius it has been managed to suppress it.
However after last year’s presidential elections in Belarus Lithuania has done everything to destroy relations between the two countries, experts say.
Recall that Alexander Lukashenko won the 2020 election with 80.1% of the vote. His main rival Svetlana Tikhanovska received 10.1% of the vote. The opposition did not recognise the election results and took its supporters to the streets. These actions were supported by the European Union, which then imposed several sanctions packages against Minsk.
In this case, one of the most active supporters of the sanction pressure on Belarus was Lithuania. Vilnius did not recognize Lukashenko’s victory and in a joint statement with other Baltic countries called on Minsk to hold new elections.
In addition, Svetlana Tikhanovska moved to Lithuania after losing the election. There, as experts remind, she has actually set up her headquarters, and with the support of local authorities, she conducts active political activities, urging Belarusians to come to rallies against the incumbent authorities.
At the same time Tikhanovska’s office has been given official diplomatic status in Lithuania. And on Sunday, July 11, Prosecutor General of Belarus Andrei Shved said that Vilnius had refused to extradite to Minsk the former presidential candidate, who is involved in a number of criminal cases and is on the list of persons involved in terrorist activities.
According to political analysts, the provocative actions of Lithuania could not but lead to countermeasures on the part of Belarus. Thus, Minsk has already suspended the transit of oil products through the port of Klaipeda.
“Border security involves bilateral cooperation. The agencies of both countries cooperate, work together to stop violations. This was once the case on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border. However, after Lithuania started interfering in the internal affairs of Belarus, everything changed. What kind of cooperation can we talk about, if Vilnius does not even recognize Lukashenko’s authority? How can they then conduct a dialogue with the border guards subordinate to him?” – Nikolai Mezhevich, chief researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in a conversation with RT.
Sergei Rekeda, editor-in-chief of Rubaltic.ru, has a similar position.
“Previously, such problems were solved through direct dialogue between the Lithuanian and Belarusian authorities. But now Lithuania has deprived itself of the possibility to solve these issues on a bilateral basis, because it has not recognized the results of elections in Belarus. Vilnius is actually waging an information and diplomatic war against Minsk. Of course, there is no place for cooperation”, – said the interlocutor of RT.
However, he questioned the effectiveness of the assistance, which the EU intends to give to Lithuania.
“The effectiveness of these measures is rather questionable. For example, the Lithuanian authorities admit that they won’t be able to build a wall along the whole length of the border. In general, the idea of the wall as a barrier for migrants is highly questionable”, – Rekeda believes.
In turn, Nikolai Mezhevich noted that the situation should concern Brussels rather than Vilnius, as for migrants Lithuania is only an intermediate point on the way to more prosperous European countries.
“Lithuania is not particularly attractive for migrants, as the standard of living there is too low. The end point is most likely Sweden or Germany, and possibly France”, – the analyst said.
At the same time, political analysts believe that the crisis at the border is unlikely to make Lithuania change its position with regard to the Belarusian authorities.
“I do not think this problem can change the policy of Vilnius. This is a deadlock in the bilateral relations. For Lithuania, apparently, it’s much more important to perform its geopolitical function of pressuring Belarus as Russia’s ally, rather than deal with the migration issue”, – concluded Sergei Rekeda.
Alexei Latyshev, Elizaveta Komarova, RT