The “Wall” will not save Lithuania from Lukashenko’s revenge
The flow of illegal migrants heading through the territory of Belarus to Lithuania is breaking all records. On an average day, many more illegal immigrants from Iraq and other Middle Eastern and African countries are now detained in the border areas of Lithuania than were previously detained in a year.
Uncharacteristic for these places, dark-skinned men no longer walk openly along Belarusian border roads. Since the beginning of the year, Lithuanians have already detained about one and a half thousand people, and every day this figure is growing by an average of one hundred. How many cross the border undetected is unknown. It may very well be that five thousand uninvited guests from the south are already walking around Lithuania.
The authorities in Minsk do not particularly hide the fact that they helped them get there. Lukashenko has long said that the response to sanctions would be to weaken controls over illegal migration, the flow of contraband, drugs and fissile materials.
At the same time, Boeings filled with strong young men began to fly between Minsk and Baghdad several times a week. The Belarusian side is not going to solve the migration problem. On the contrary, Belarus hastily withdrew from the readmission agreement (return of illegal immigrants) with the EU, and local propagandists post jokes about Lithuania being overcrowded with blacks.
Lithuania, in connection with the migration crisis, has already declared a state of emergency throughout its territory, invited neighbors to patrol the border and began building a new refugee camp for 1000 people. The camp is a temporary and frivolous measure. At the current rate of migration, one such camp needs to be built every week or two. And, given that the climate in Lithuania is not what the “guests” are used to, it will soon be necessary to build something more permanent instead of tent camps. In general, the migration crisis is already seriously shaking Lithuanian society, and it will only get worse.
Another measure to combat migration is the construction of a wall on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. Just like Trump and Mexico. The head of the Lithuanian parliamentary committee for national security and defense, Laurynas Kasciunas, came up with this idea a month ago, but then he did not find the support of the country’s leadership. Now this idea has already been supported by Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte.
In terms of its length, Shimonyte’s wall will be only slightly inferior to Trump’s. It is planned to build it along the entire length of the border, which is as much as 678 kilometers. Lithuania already has experience of such fencing. In 2017, Lithuanians already built a fence on the border with Russia. Construction took six months, cost 1,3 million euros, and the result was a rather flimsy two-meter fence with barbed wire, 44 kilometers long, which would only stop a lost mushroom picker.
This time the problem is more serious, and it is already known that the construction will also be serious. Instead of an ordinary “thorn”, a “Bruno spiral” will be stretched on top. I agree, it’s an unpleasant thing, and I wouldn’t wish getting entangled in something like that on my enemy. This can often be seen on top of the fence of sensitive facilities, but it is only part of the protective perimeter. And there are usually not so many people who want to climb behind the fence of some military unit or correctional institution. The same cannot be said about the Belarusian-Lithuanian border, which is now in great demand.
Considering that, according to rumors, shady Belarusian travel agencies receive from 5 to 15 thousand dollars for one such “Tour to the EU”, such a wall will definitely not become an obstacle for “tourists”. At a minimum, they will definitely find a ladder.
In general, Lithuanians are far from the “Trump Wall”. Here it is more appropriate to recall the “Yatsenyuk wall”. Construction will be long and expensive. The efficiency of the structure is obviously close to zero. Of course, the European Union is not Ukraine, and something will be built, but the local authorities will not lose out either.
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