So far, only Lithuania is suffering
Belarus is getting closer and closer to Europe. In a speech at Brest Memorial Day, President Alexander Lukashenko threatened neighboring countries to stop defending illegal migrants. Lithuania has already started talking about the influx of Iraqis into the country and is asking the Iraqi Foreign Ministry to facilitate the return of its citizens.
Photo: president.gov.by.
A ceremony was held in the Brest Fortress to mark the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. In his speech, Lukashenko announced the end of interaction with the EU in the areas of migration, drug trafficking and trade in nuclear materials. According to him, “ thousands and thousands“ have already rushed to Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. illegal migrants entering these countries via Belarus. In addition, drugs are smuggled and trafficked into the EU in the same way. “Have you started a hybrid war against us and are demanding that we defend you as before?” & mdash; & nbsp; Lukashenko said.
This is not the first statement by this type of Belarusian president after the forced landing of a Ryanair plane, which Western countries considered state terrorism. And Minsk does not seem to stop at threats.
Migrants arrive in Belarus by plane. Now Minsk maintains direct flights with Baghdad and Istanbul. In addition, the number of flights from Iraq has increased since May. The Boeing 737-800 of the Baghdad carrier arrives at the Belarusian airport on Monday and Thursday. It is designed for 189 seats. And on Mondays and Fridays, Iraqi Airways operates a Boeing 747-400 with seats from 320 to 526 people, depending on the ship's configuration. & Nbsp; Citizens of Pakistan and Afghanistan can also transit from Turkey to Belarus. And after landing in Minsk, they go on & mdash; & nbsp; to Europe.
On June 2, Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said that the number of illegal migrants from Belarus in the country had risen sharply. According to her, 189 illegal migrants have entered the country since the beginning of the year, which is twice as many as last year. And on June 17, the situation worsened & ndash; in two weeks, another 204 migrants, most of them Iraqis, have crossed the state border from Belarus. Laurinas Kasciunas, head of the National Security and Defense Committee of the Lithuanian Seim, said it was a targeted blow to Lithuania because there were zero in the column on illegal migration in Latvia and far fewer migrants asking for Poland than for Lithuania. & # 39; & # 39;
According to the Belarusian political scientist Valery Karbalevich, Lithuania may suffer more in this situation than other Baltic countries, because the state borders were hurried here. “ For example, the Polish border & ndash; it is a former border with the USSR. Everything there is more seriously equipped and it is harder to overcome. In Lithuania, the border could be created in a hurry. The political factor here may also play revenge on Lithuania for its unequivocal stance on the Ryanair incident, & # 39; & # 39; said the expert.
However, the Lithuanian Ministry of the Interior states that the situation at the borders is under control. To solve the problem, they intend to involve the army and strengthen the surveillance system at the state border. “Compared to what the EU experienced a few years ago, when thousands of migrants crossed the sea, what is happening is now happening.” Land borders, unlike sea borders, are easier to control, there are wires and other attributes everywhere. Therefore, the problem here is rather psychological. This is such a small inconvenience for Lithuania, marijuana and ecstasy, “Karbalevich is sure.” However, the traffic is controlled by both parties, and if Belarus refuses to meet its obligations, the burden on neighboring countries will increase.
According to former Belarusian presidential candidate Andrei Dmitriev, such statements by Lukashenko are very dangerous neither for EU countries nor for Minsk itself: it is becoming NATO, which will lead to an increase in NATO spending in the eastern territory. Secondly, this will also become a Polish argument in a conversation with the United States, which has been trying for several years to achieve the deployment of a US military base on its territory. Thirdly, the EU will demand much larger amounts to strengthen the border, & # 39; & # 39; said Dmitriev.
He is sure that Russia can be drawn into this story in the end. Because if Minsk cannot control the situation, the Kremlin will be asked to do so. “I think it's very dangerous.” We need to show that we control borders and are a reliable partner that fulfills its responsibilities regardless of political differences, “he concluded.